


A Dip Into Another World

by ChummyChewChew



Series: Lendrz's story and Spin Offs [3]
Category: Homestuck, Star vs. The Forces Of Evil
Genre: Explicit Language, Multi, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-27
Updated: 2020-02-20
Packaged: 2020-03-20 01:01:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 31,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18981976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChummyChewChew/pseuds/ChummyChewChew
Summary: To say the multiverse is a big place is an understatement. There are countless worlds in the multiverse, each one radically different from the last. Magical wells bridge all these worlds together. Due to chance, one particular troll finds himself in a new world with a fresh outlook on life.





	1. Lassie Can't Save You From This Well

**Author's Note:**

> Important note before reading. This is a spin-off of my main story. Not much of knowledge of Homestuck needed. It will become irrelevant soon. Also, if you want to read my other work, keep in mind that they are much more intense and violent. Since this is a spin-off, this isn't my top priority. It might be a while for the next update. I wrote like a machine to get this done after the final episode. This only took a week for me to write. I'm normally much slower, so keep that in mind. Also, a little context, Lendrz jumped into a river to escape a couple of attackers. He also has pyrokinesis, but no chucklevoodoos.

“Fuck, where the hell am I?” Lendrz muttered to himself as he looked over his surroundings.

Lendrz really was stuck up a creek without paddle. Actually, it would be more accurate to say he was washed downriver and had just woken up in a strange cavern. He had woken up a few minutes earlier and spent that time focusing on not passing out again from his throbbing headache. Once the pain dulled from so agonizing that he couldn’t form a coherent thought to only slightly less so.

Slowly and carefully, Lendrz climbed to his feet, pulling his legs from a small pool of water he hadn't;t realized his legs were in. His head spun and he nearly fell to the ground again, but he managed to catch himself. He gingerly brushed his fingers against the back of his head. The tips of his fingers barely brushed the back of his skull, but the pain was so intense that he gasped. He felt sick to his stomach rocked unsteadily on his feet. Lendrz breathed in and out very slowly, focusing on keeping himself standing.

Once nausea and pain faded, he exhaled. “Yup… Yeah, that’s bad, really, really bad,” he said looking the purple blood staining his fingertips. “Okay, okay, I can still get out of this. Just have to think of something. First thing first, I have to figure out where I am.”

 

Lendrz tried looking around the cavern. Normally, he would be able to see clearly into the darkness, but he found it hard to focus with his pounding headache. The troll merely flicked his wrist and a fist-sized ball of intense purple flame. The purple light it gave out illuminated with purple light. Lendrz looked around. Lendrz winced, the purple light aggravated his headache, but he bore it. The cavern was unnaturally smooth as if carved out by hand. He looked behind him and noticed there was a small entrance, almost like a mouth. It was a stroke of luck that he managed to be swept into the cave. If he wanted to leave, he would have to dive into the pool, which would be a horrible idea seeing as he couldn’t swim. The cavern was dead silent. The only sound that he could hear was the gentle babbling of the entrance.

“It would be better to try and get a look around before making my next move,” Lendrz muttered to himself. He looked back towards the cavern and walked closer through the cavern. while he looked down at himself and scowled. His clothes were soaked through, squelching and dripping with every step. Rips and tears decorated both his shirt and pants. If there was anything in the cave, the would here him clear as night. The worst of his injuries was the back of his head. Luckily, his thick skin protected him well. Only a few scrapes and bruises dotted his body.

Lendrz’s head suddenly jerked back as the top of his horn scraped against the top of the cavern. He barely managed to catch himself before he fell. Nausea and dizziness returned in full force, but he remained standing. He reached up and his fingers easily brushed against the roof of the cavern. The cavern had shrunk into a small tunnel. Lendrz peered into the depths of the tunnel, but he couldn’t see the end of it. He looked back at the entrance at the cave, considering risking the swim.

The highblood sighed. “I know this is a bad idea, but I don't have any other options. If it wasn’t for those damn Scourge Sister I wouldn’t be in this situation,” Lendrz said to himself.

He hunched down slightly and walked deeper into the tunnel in total silence… well, it would have been in total if it wasn’ for the rhythmic squish of his soaked shoes.

_Squish…_

_Squish…_

_squish…_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Seriously, how long is this tunnel!” Lendrz shouted to himself, in spite of the potentially dangerous situation. If he had to guess, it probably would have been around half an hour.

His legs, neck, and back were beginning to cramp from having to stoop and walk a considerable distance. At least he had recovered enough that he no longer needed his flame to see into the dark.

 _Just another problem to add to the stack_ Lendrz though to himself angrily.  
angrily

As if it hear his complaint, the tunnel opened up to another cavern. Like the other one, it seemed carved from the stone. Lendrz stepped into the cavern and stood upright. He heard a series of pops as he stood upright and stretched. Much like the other cavern, there wasn’t anything of interest, not even another tunnel. 

“Great. Looks like this was just another waste of time,’ lendrz growled. As he turned to leave, something caught his eyes.

Sitting in the center of the room was a short smooth crater. The formation was too smooth to look natural. Lendrz approached the strange crater and tried looking over the edge, but there was a thick, sturdy looking seal made of black stone over it. Lendrz kneeled down to get a better look at the stone and a pair of diamond-shaped pupils looked back at him. Those eyes belonged to a strange face that seemed to stare directly back at Lendrz. It had a thin pill shaped head, a large cloudy beard that split up into two large points that turned upward into two points. Fiver fingers, minus a thumb, were curled around the top of the stone lid, making it look like it was peering over the lid. To top it all off, the strange creature completely lacked horns.

“Why on Alternia would someone carve such an ugly and strange creature here in this cave,” Lendrz said to himself. 

For a brief second, Lendrz could have sworn that the carving shot him a scowl, but when he looked again the carving remained unchanged. He shrugged it off. He must still be suffering from a concussion.

“Where am I anyway?” Lendrz asked himself. He materialized his Husktop into his hands. He turned it on and tried to find his location, but found that he was unable to.

“Come one, really? Of all times,” Lendrz grumbled, staring at the flashing red letters spelling out no connection. “Of all time, of all places.”

Lendrz closed his husktop and placed it on the floor beside him. He looked over the seal again, considering if it would be wise to just risk an attempt at swimming. He quickly shut down that idea. Even if he knew how to swim, the river’s current was too powerful. Whatever was underneath that seal could be a way out.

_Well, I’ve come this far and wasted some time, so I might as see this all the way through._

Lendrz brushed a hand across the seal. The stone was unnaturally cold to the touch and very smooth, almost like glass. He gripped the edges of the seal and pulled. He expected the stone to be ripped free with ease, but to his surprise, the stone didn’t even budge an inch.

“Damn seal is tougher than it looked,” Lendrz growled. “Let’s see how you handle this.”

Lendrz materialized his staff in his hands and jabbed the bottom if it between the seal and well. The seal resisted at first, but after some wiggling and a little force, and by force, I mean sheer brute strength, the end of his staff was jammed underneath the seal.

“There we go. Now let’s get this seal off.”

Lendrz pushed down on the staff to pop off the seal, but it resisted again.

“Now this is getting ridiculous. There is definitely something off with this seal,” Lendrz said to himself as he continued to try and force the seal off. Lendrz took a deep breath and redoubled his efforts. He cliched his teeth tightly and pushed with all his strength. 

Lendrz heard a crack come from the stone and felt his staff shift slightly. The seal was ever so slowly beginning to give.

“Come on… come one… just a little more,’ Lendrz managed to breath out. “How can a… stone lid be so strong…” Sweat began to drip from the side of his face.

_**CRACK** _

The second crack was accompanied by a shockwave of force, knocking Lendrz clean off his feet and sending him sailing through the air. Lendrz slammed into the cavern’s wall and slid down to the floor. He rubbed his head dizzily. The back of his head had been knocked into the wall, dazing him.

“...What was that?” Lendrz asked himself as he stood up, using the wall to support himself. He felt dizzy again, but it was manageable.

Lendrz looked to the well. The stone seal lied near the well in two places, broken into two pieces rather than actually be popped off. He stepped closer to the well, but his foot nudged something on the floor. He scooped what was on the floor and scowled when he saw what it was.

“What? Seriously! It’s going to be a pain to get this replaced!” Lendrz scowled as he looked down at the top half of his staff. The other end was near his feet, broken clean in two. Growing, he tossed the top of his staff away from him in disgust. 

He shook his head and approached the well. As he got closer, he noticed a gentle golden come from deep inside the well. He rubbed his eyes to see if the glow was real and not a sign that he needed medical attention immediately. When he lowered his arms, the glow was still there. Lendrz kneeled by the well and carefully looked over the edge. Inside the well was some kind of golden water. His distorted reflection stared back at him. Much to his annoyance, the stream had washed off his face paint.

Lendrz reached into the well and his fingertips just barely managed to brush over the surface. The golden water was pleasantly warm and despite it feeling just like water, it clumped together around his finger. He pulled his arm from the well and rubbed the golden water between his fingers. He brought it close to his nose and gingerly sniffed, but the substance lacked any scent.

“What is this?” Lendrz asked himself as the substance evaporated and evaporated completely before his eyes. He looked back at the well with even more questions than answers. Slowly, he reached deeper into the well, trying to get some more of the golden water. This time, he wanted to get a whole handful. His hands sunk into the golden water, but he reached even deeper and cupped his hands together. Lendrz had to balance himself carefully. He didn’t have a free hand to catch himself if he fell. As he was about to pull his hands from the water, Lendrz lost his balance and tipped forward.

“Oh fuc-” was all that Lendrz could manage before he plunged into the golden water. He sunk into the well like a stone. He tried kicking legs and reaching out with his arms to try and hold on to the walls of the wells, but that did nothing to slow his decent and the well seemed to have disappeared. A strong current pushed him… upward? He had fallen down the well, but he was being pushed up. Lendrz held his breath as best he could. His lungs began to ache, but there seemed to be no way out of this. 

_Looks like I narrowly avoided drowning in the river just to drown in a well. What an undignified end…_

Just as Lendrz was about to close his eyes for good, he was launched out of the powerful stream of gold. He sailed through the air before landing with a big splash on his back. Gulping down air greedily, Lendrz sat up using his hands to support himself. Through all this, Lendrz kept his eyes closed.

“At this point, do I really want to know what's going on?” Lendrz asked himself. “I guess I don’t see how this can get any worse.”

Shrugging, Lendrz opened his eyes to see where he ended up. What he saw made his jaw drop. He was sitting in an endless shallow lake of the glittering golden water. The sky was a mix of soft pastel blues, pinks, and purple. Fluffy white clouds and stars dotted the sky. An occasional glowing purplish pink crystal floated sluggishly through the sky. The same kind of crystals littered the golden lake, ranging from the size of a small rock to towering crystals that dwarfed the tallest buildings on Alternia. From the crystals, sprouted colerful mushroomlike plants. They had extremely long stalks and wide, flat caps, like umbrellas. Equally colorful jellyfish lazily swam through the sky. Fountains of golden water shot upward, to the sky, disappearing from sight. 

Lendrz closed his eyes and cradled his head in his hands. “This isn’t real. This is just some kind of fucked up hallucination. Right now, I’m lying face down in that river, and all of this is just a dying dream. When I open my eyes, all of this will be gone, and I’ll wake and be drowning in that river,” Lendrz whispered to himself.

“Alright, on the count of three... One… two… three!” Lendrz’s eyes snapped open. Instead of being greeted by the river, he saw the same golden lake with the addition of a small light purple unicorn with a golden horn. She stared right back at him with a pair of large innocent amber eyes.

“Yup, I’ve definitely gone insane.”

The small unicorn opened its mouth and said with a gentle childlike voice, “Oh, you’re not crazy.”

Lendrz stared wide-eyed at the unicorn. “No, no, no, you did not just speak. Just like I did not fall down a golden well and end up in a golden lake full of crystals, gravity-defying water, and talking hoofbeast. This is not happening!”

“No, this is happening,” the hoofbeast said cheerfully. “Hiya, my name’s Majesty, a millhorse, not a hoofbeast. Who are you?

“Might as well indulge in my lunacy, I suppose. My name is… Lendrz Ridrez? Sorry, I had a little trouble remembering my name for a second.”

“Yeah, that tends to happen here in the Realm of Magic,” she answered.

“Wait, the realm of what? Magic? But magic isn’t real.”

“You're sitting in a lake of pure magic and talking to a millhorse, and you’re telling me magic isn’t real?” she said, giggling.

“Yeah, I’ll give you that,” Lendrz said, casting another look around the realm. “So, what happens now?”

“Now you have to go back to your home dimension. You probably noticed that you’re forgetting all your memories really fast. You have to go home. The portal is right behind you,” Majesty explained, gesturing her horn behind Lendrz.

He turned to look behind him and saw one of the golden geysers shooting up into the sky. “I just step into it, right?” he asked as he stepped closer to the stream.

“Jup! Just step into the portal, and it'll do the rest. You’ll be home before you know it.”

“Alright. Alternia, here I come,” Lendrz said to himself as he took a step forward closer to the stream. Just as he was about to step inside the portal, it began to shrink before his eyes.

“What!? No!” Lendrz shouted as the portal shrank before his eyes.

He tried to jump into the portal before it disappeared completely, but instead of jumping into the stream of magic, his feet splashed into the magic- too late to go back home. 

Lendrz dropped to his knees as quickly as he could and tried searching for the opening of the portal within the magic with his hands, but he found nothing underneath. Giving a defeated sigh, sat back and looked glumly at the spot where the way home was just seconds ago.

“So, what now? Am I stuck here?” Lendrz asked himself sadly.

“My parents told me that portal was sealed a long, long time ago because it was so dangerous. It’s been sealed since, like, forever. How’d ya even get past it in the first place?” Majesty answered as he walked to Lendrz’s side and sniffed where the portal had been just moments ago.

Lendrz looked down at Majesty with a curious look on his face, as if seeing her for the first time. After a moment, recognition lit up his eyes “Uh, yeah, there was a seal over a well on the other side. All I did was break the seal and fall in. There’s not even an opening on this side. Is there any way back?”

“Um, I’m sorry. There’s no way inside the sealed dimension.”

Lendrz’s let his head and shoulders slump forward. “What am I going to do?” he asked himself sadly.

Majesty hopped in front of Lendrz with a smile on her face. “Come on! Don’t be sad! Just look around you. There are tons of portals everywhere. Just pick one and that could be your new home,” she said in an attempt to cheer him up.

“I guess I could, but I spent my entire life on Alternia. I can’t imagine living anywhere else,” Lendrz answered, looking down at the small millhorse. “Thanks for trying to cheer me up, but this all seems hopeless.”

Majesty’s smile faded as she looked down too. For a while, the two sulked in silence before Majesty fixed a determined look on her face.

“If you don’t have a home, I could give you one. This place could be your home, if you want,” Majesty explained.

“What does that mean?” asked Lendrz without looking up.

“It means this place could be your home,” she answered.

Lendrz didn’t respond right away. His black eyes slowly turned purple and golden sparkles formed in his eyes.

“A home? That sounds nice…” Lendrz mumbled, but his voice was distant and his eyes glazed over.

“Okey-dokey, let’s get started,” Majesty said with a hop back in her step. ‘Now, just hold still. This is really dangerous. My parents said I should never do this, but they’re not here. Like I said, just hold really, really still.

The millhorse slowly walked to Lendrz and gently pressed her horn over his heart. Lendrz felt a gentle heat from her horn. The warmth sunk deep within his chest and Majesty’s horn grew brighter and brighter with every passing second. The warmth spread from his chest to every part of his body. From the tips of his horns to his toes. As the warmth spread, it grew with intensity, It grew hotter and hotter, but Lendrz did not feel any pain. In fact, the bruises and scratched all over his body began to disappear. Even the pain in the back of his head faded. The glow died down and the warmth left with it, but he did feel… different and lighter.

“Woah, that felt funny…” Lendrz sated dumbly.

“Sorry, but I have to leave now. My parents might notice I’m missing. Uh, if you feel hungry or thirsty just drink some of the magic,” Majesty said before turning and trotting off.

Lendrz watched the horse leave with his glossy, unfocused eyes before losing interest. He rubbed his eyes and stood up. “Where am I again?” he asked himself. Lendrz looked around the Realm of Magic again. Nothing had changed, but instead of panicking like last time, he smiled. Despite his rapidly fading memory, Lendrz did not panic. In fact, he felt at ease.

Lendrz walked off into the realm of magic. He was home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lendrz was laying on a short flat crystal, watching the clouds lazily float through the sky. He smacked his lips and frowned. His mouth felt parched. A grumble from his stomach also brought his attention to the empty feeling in it. He needed something to drink. He sat up and looked around. As far as the eye could see, there was the golden water and crystals. He hopped the crystal. The splash at his feet caused him to look down.

Lendrz hesitantly kneeled down, cupped his hands, and raised them to his lips full the golden water. He sipped the magic and swished it around his mouth. The magic was pleasantly warm and tingled slightly. Satisfied with his test, he gulped down the liquid. It tingled down his throat and warmth spread throughout his body again. Deciding he liked the feeling of the liquid, he cupped his hands for another mouthful. After a few more mouthfuls, he wiped his arm against his lips, his thirst and hunger sated.

“You’re not supposed to be here?” an older, feminine asked him.

The troll looked up to see a full-grown millhorse. This one was much larger than Majesty, the size of an actual horse.

“You’re not supposed to be here?” the millhorse repeated.

Lendrz smiled and eagerly waved at the millhorse. “Hi! My name is… Uh, I’m sorry, but I don’t remember my name,” he said answered, his dopey smile never leaving his face.

Instead of saying anything, she lowered her horn at Lendrz, but she paused. She seemed to notice something about Lendrz she didn’t before. She slowly stepped closer, her eyes narrowed as she stared at Lendrz, or to be more precise, she looked where Majesty pressed her horn. She snorted and gave him one last disapproving glance before walking off.

“I suppose this place is now more your home than any other.”

Lendrz briefly watched the millhorse leave before shrugging and losing interest. He climbed back on top of the crystal and continued to lazily watch the clouds drift by.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lendrz explored the golden lake to his heart’s content. However, even the golden lake with all its crystals and geysers, his amazement began to wear thin after some time. By the time the troll grew bored by the golden lake, his hair had grown from the halfway down his back to the small of his back. He drank from the lake whenever he felt thirsty or hungry. It was a simple life, but it was a dull one as well.

He occasionally met some of the milhorses. The older ones regarded him cautiously and dismissed him. The younger ones tried talking to him. They usually lost interest when they realized that the only reaction they got out of him was a curious, but silent stare most of the time. He had forgotten how to speak for quite some time now. There was one partially millhorse with a light purple coat and a darker mane that always returned.

“How ya been?” Majesty asked as she trotted along with the troll.

Lendrz looked down at Majesty. He smiled and stopped to pet her gently before continuing on his way without answering. She smiled and nuzzled the top of her head into his hand.

“You still don’t remember anything, right? It’s getting worse, isn’t it?” she rambled on, not waiting for an answer. “This is no good, no good at all. If you stick around too long, you might forget how to breathe or something. You already forgot how to talk. I hoped you would have gotten used to this place by now, but you only got worse. I think the best thing to do is for you to try and live in one of the dimensions for a while. Don’t worry, it’s just for a little while. Just long enough to give your body time to adjust. After that, I’m sure you’ll find your way home,” she explained.

Now, come one! Time’s a-wastin!” she cheered hopping forward and taking a pose.

Lendrz gave her an awkward smile but did not move to follow her.

She sighed and dropped her pose. “Oh yeah, you can’t understand me. I’ll just lead you, then,” Majesty said.

She walked back to Lendrz and bit his the bottom of his pants and pulled. He raised an eyebrow at first, but he eventually got the message and followed Majesty.  
She led Lendrz through the golden lake, stopping occasionally to sniff at a portal.

“No, not that one. Maybe this one? Definitely not this one,” Majesty muttered to herself. She stopped at one in one particular one.

“Earth? Hmm, it’s safe compared to must worlds, because it has no magic… but that means it might take a while for you to adjust. Plus, you’re definitely not human,” she said as she sniffed one specific portal. Majesty leed him to another portal nearby and sniffed at it, too.

“What about Mewni? It’s full of magic. You wouldn’t have to spend too much time there. There are monsters in there, and you could pass as one of them, but that’s also a problem. The mewmans there really hate monster. Like, really hate them. A lot,” she said to herself.

Majesty looked back and forth between the two streams, unsure of with one to choose. “Hmm, let's go with Mewni. The sooner you get adjusted, the sooner you can come home.” Majesty bit the cuff of his pants again and pulled him toward the portal. Lendrz took the hint faster this time and approached the portal.

For all his time in the realm, he had left the streams alone. Like all of the others, the stream shot up into the sky and disappeared into the sky. Hesitantly, he stuck his fingers inside the stream. There was a slight pull from the stream upwards. He pulled his arm from the stream and looked back at Majesty. She flashed a reassuring smile and nodded. Taking a deep breath, he took a step forward.

The stream pulled him upward without any issue. The golden magic blocked his view completely. He could see the shadowy form of the crystals, the portals, and the jellyfish. As he shot upward, even those forms faded and all he could see was gold.

Soon, Lendrz burst out of the portal and he frantically scrambled to grab onto something. He latched onto the top of a well, just like the one on Alternia. He pulled himself up and climbed out of the well. Lendrz shook his head to get rid of the magic clumping up in his hair, but it was already evaporating into nothing.

Once Lendrz was dry, he surveyed his surrounding. He was standing in a large, circular building made of marble. He was standing inside a small gazebo with a large crystal embedded on the roof, built atop a large stone spire. Stairs were carved along the spire leading to large pool in the center of the room. The entire ground floor was a large garden of dirt and flower bushes. Two large sculptures were built into the wall opposite of each other. They looked similar to the carving on the seal, except their mouths were open and water gushed from them and into the lake. Other statues like those dotted the garden. The entire ceiling was made of light pink and blue stained glass forming a dome.

Lendrz noticed two large arched windows on the ground floor. There were other windows along the wall, but those two were the largest. He climbed down the stair. Once he reached the bottom, he swam through the lake to the lakebed. He walked up to the windows and leaned in close to get a better look.

It was pitch black outside, too dark to see anything. Lendrz was just about to leave when he noticed something dart across the window. He looked back and saw a school of fish swim quickly across the window. It wasn’t too dark to see. They were underwater. Lendrz sat cross-legged at the window and supported held his head in his hands. He watched schools of colorful fishes dash to and fro.

After about half an hour past, he lost interest in the fish. Lendrz stood up and continued to explore the building. He followed the wall until he reached an arched corridor. There was a small metal box with a large rusted valve sticking out from the top and a vending machine covered in moss and vines was near the corridor. He ignored the valve in favor of the vending machine.

He walked and moved the vines to get a better look through the glass. Inside were rows and rows snackfoods in bright yellow packaging. Lendrz sniffed at the machine and his mouth began to water. He examined the machine to see how he could get the machines delicious innards. Lendrz shoved the machine, but the snacks remained in place. Growling, he began tipping the machine, but to no avail. Annoyed, he gave it one last powerful shove. The machine crashed loudly onto its side, the glass shattered completely. Lendrz jumped back and raised his hands to his mouth. His eyes darted from left to right as he looked around, but there was no one around to see his blunder. He relaxed and walked back to the vending machine. 

Lendrz shoved some of the glass away with his foot and kneeled down. He scooped the delicious intestines out of his vanquished prey and made a small pile in front of him. He grabbed a bag and examined it carefully. Whatever was inside smelled delicious. He clawed the bag open. Inside were triangular yellow chips. He grabbed a handful of stuffed it into his mouth.

He couldn’t help but let out a pleasant moan and quickly stuffed himself with the rest of the bag. He grabbed snack after snack and eagerly wolfed them down. After some time, he gave a satisfied burp and wiped the crumbs from his lips. Lendrz stood up and shook off any crumbs from his clothes. He gathered the remainder of the snacks into his arms and walked to the corridor.

Intricate carvings covered every inch of the corridor’s stone walls. They were all the same figure as the statues. Lendrz slowly walked down the corridor until he reached a large stone door, the silhouette of the figure was varved over the door like it was cradling it. A purple diamond shape was carved upon the middle of the center of it, just a little bigger than his hand. Lendrz carefully cradled his pile of snacks with one arm and pressed the palm of his hand on the carving. He felt it give a little. Lendrz pushed a little harder and the stone button sank a few inches. The sound of stone grinding against stone was the only protest it gave. Lendrz waited for something to happen but after a few seconds of silence, he turned to walk back to the garden.

Before he could take another step, the entire building shuddered and groaned. Within the walls, he heard stone shifting and grinding. Lendrz held his snacks close to his chest and looked around fearfully. He felt an odd sinking feeling in the pit of the stomach as the building rose. Finally, with one last clunk, everything was silent and the odd feeling in his gut faded.

After making sure he still had all his snacks, Lendrz carefully stood up. Another clunk came from the door itself and the door opened slightly. 

Lendrz shouldered the door open and poked his head out. The building had risen out of coast. Large stone stepping stones led to a sandy beach. Further, into the coast, the beach turned into a dreary, shadowy forest. Lendrz stepped out of the building and breathed in the salty air. While it was dark, three moons cast more than enough light to see from the dark pink sky. There was one massive moon with a ring made of stone, a moon about half the size of the first moon, and a much smaller moon orbited that one.

“Bwah!” a deep baritone said from Lendrz’s side.

Lendrz turned to see a large teal alligator with bulging eyes looking up at him. “Bwah,” it repeated.

Lendrz tilted his head to the side. “Bwah?” he more asked than said.

“Bwah!”

“Bwah.”

“Bwaaaaah.”

“Bwaaaaah.”

“Bwa!”

“Bwa!”

This exchange continued for some time before the alligator seemed satisfied and slithered back into the water and disappearing from sight.

Once the alligator was gone, Lendrz continued on his way. He carefully hopped from stone to stone, being extra careful to avoid dropping any of his snacks. As he hopped, he noticed many other alligators swimming around in the water, but they ignored him. Lendrz made it to the shore proper and stared off into the woods.

The trees towered above Lendrz. Thorns covered the trees and scraggly branches sprouted from them like skeletal hands. Their dark green leaves formed a thick canopy high above that blocked the moonlight. Everything was dead silent, but Lendrz had the feeling he was being watched.

Lendrz looked for another option, but the forest stretched on in either direction as far as the eye could see. He had two options before him- go back to the building or keep moving forward. Lendrz rocked on his feet as he thought. On one hand, the forest ahead was most certainly dangerous. On the other hand, he already looted everything of value from the building. Eventually, his curiosity got the best of him and he entered the dark forest. Perhaps he would come across more vending machines.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Stupid unicorn, stupid fire. I mean, come on, how was I supposed to know it would run loose and wreck the royal castle,” Star Butterfly muttered to herself as she angrily paced through the Forest of Certain Death.

Star Butterfly was the sole heir to the Mewni Kingdom. In only a few months, it would be her fourteenth birthday and her mother would pass down the royal magic wand, a powerful artifact dating back to the first queen of Mewni.

She couldn’t help but drool at the thought of having the wand in her possession as she ducked under the bite of a man-eating plant. Star gave the plant a powerful uppercut, knocking its head up before slamming heavily on the floor.

When the unicorn stampeded through the castle, her parents had locked her in her room, giving her the ol’ riding wild unicorns and fighting monsters isn’t something princesses do speech. Of course, something as simple as a locked wooden door wouldn’t stop Star Butterfly! She had tied her clothes together and climbed out of the window. Said window was on the top floor of a massive castle, but at least she put all her royal dresses to good use.

Speaking of dresses, Star looked down at herself and wished she had the forethought to change clothes. She wore a light blue frilly dress, a matching shirt sized tailcoat, and flats. She had torn off her puffy sleeves and ditched her crown a while back. Two heart-shaped marks on her cheeks adorned her otherwise flawless skin. He golden hair was carefully brushed and flowed all the way down her back.

“Jeez, the one time I want Ludo and his monsters to attack, they’re a no show. I really need to get a better nemesis,” Star complained to herself as she sidestepped a dilapidated mewman skeleton.

Star paused. She had heard something. She listened closely. It was distant, but definitely there. It sounded like someone was struggling for their life and shouting- and it was close. 

“Don’t worry, stranger! I’m coming to save you!” Star called out in the direction of the sound. She charged through the forest, dodging all kinds of carnivorous plants as she went.

Soon, she reached a small clearing in the forest. In the center was a large pit of quicksand and the source of the sound was stuck in the middle

Inside the pit was a monster Star had never seen before. He was Mewman shaped, but she could only see him from the waist up. He wore a simple black shirt over a black thermal with purple rings all over the sleeves. The only design on his shirt was sign. It was a long line down his chest, another line crossed it near the top, and open brackets were on the ends, and a circle decorated the bottom of the main line. His skin was stone gray and four horns jutted out from his long black hair. Two of the horns pointer outward before sharply pointing forward, almost like a bull. The second pair just below formed a half circle with the ends pointing downwards, framing his face. The horns were reddish orange at the base, orange in the middle, and yellow at the tip.

Currently, the monster remained oblivious to the princess. He frantically struggled against the muck, but all he managed to do was sink a couple of inches with a slurping sound. Star figured he would sink completely within a minute. She considered leaving him to his fate, but even an evil monster didn’t deserve this.

“Hey, over her, monster!” Star called.

The monster finally looked up from the muck and saw Star. He desperately waved to her while he sank another inch.

“Don’t worry, I’ll get you outta there, but if you even think about trying anything funny, you’re gonna wish I left you in there,” Star threatened.

Star carefully grabbed a thorny vine from a nearby tree. She took on end of it and tied it around the base of the tree and tied the other end into a lasso.

“Alright, just grab onto the vine and pull yourself through the quicksand,” Star called as she spun the lasso in the air and tossing it at the monster. It landed near him and he quickly grabbed onto it. He quickly began pulling himself out. The pit made glunking and slurping sound in protest, but soon the monster had pulled himself free. Everything from a couple of inches above his waist was covered in mud.

Star tensed, ready to jump into action in case the monster tried something. Instead, he smiled gratefully with a mouthful of razor-sharp teeth and lightly bounced on his heels. Now that he was closer, Star could see him more clearly.

The monster looked about two or three years older than her and a few inches taller, but he still had a boyish face. His clothing was plenty of rips and was threadbare in some spots. His shoulders were broad, but he wasn’t very bulky. His nails were clawlike and the color matched his horns. The whites of his eyes were a strong yellow. He was in desperate need of a haircut, but Star could make out a long faded scar stretch across his forehead.

“Alright, monster guy, you’re free now, so you can just turn around and go back to wherever you came from,” Star commanded.

The monster tilted his head to the side curiously, but he didn’t move.

“Didn’t you hear me? You can leave now,” Star continued.

“Bwah!” the monster shouted happily.

“Uh, what?”

“Bwah!” he repeated.

“Don’t you know how to talk?”

“Bwah!”

“Okay, I’m just gonna go,” Star said, jabbing in the direction she came from. “Bye.”

Before Star could leave, the monster quickly ran to some bushes nearby and began rummaging through it. He pulled out a small pile of corn snacks. He walked up to Star and held out the pile to her with a smile.

“Uh, thanks. I guess I could go for a cornbar,” Star said, taking a bar from him. “Again, I gotta go. If I stick around too long, my parents are so going to notice I’m gone, and I’ll get into so much trouble. Bye.”

Once again, Star turned to leave. She walked a few steps before she heard footsteps behind her.

She whipped around got into a fighting stance the guards who babysat her taught her.

The monster was following closely behind her, but he wasn’t trying to ambush her. He was just standing behind her with a armful of corn and a smile.

“Nope, nope, nope, you can not follow me. Don’t you have somewhere to go?” Star asked, shaking her head and crossing her arms.

“Bwah,” the monster answered.

“You don’t understand a word I’m saying, do you?”

“Bwah.”

“That’s great. Okay, I just have to figure out a way to tell a monster that doesn’t know how to talk. No problem, right?” she asked herself.

“You,” she began slowly, “need to leave.” She held her palm out and hopped her corn bar along her palm. “You have to go back to your home. Do you understand?” she asked as she nodded her head.

The monster nodded enthusiastically.

“Are you sure you understand?”

Another nod.

“Are you sure you’re sure?”

The monster nodded one final time.

“Okay, that’s great. Bye,” Star said and began walking back to the castle.

Just as she was sure he got the message, she heard the same footsteps.  
Again, she whipped around and glared at the monster.

“I said go home!”

“Bwah!”

Star tugged at her hair and continued to stomp down the path that led to the castle. After a few seconds, the footsteps behind her resumed. She turned at glared at the monster, who avoided her stare and tried to look casual.

She continued on her way and the steps resumed after a few seconds again! This back and forth continued for a while.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The pair stepped into a circle of five large red closed flowers. Star turned to glare at the monster for the umpteenth time. She dragged her hand down her face and gave a defeated sigh.

“You’re just not going to give up, are you? I hope you realize we’re going to Mewni castle. You know, probably the most dangerous place on Mewni for a monster.”

As Star was talking, a pair of the flowers trembled and two strange creatures noiselessly arose from the earth. They were the size of a small bear and looked like a strange fusion of a plant and a bug. Their bodies looked like a huge thumb that narrowed into a small tail. The had four small branches like legs and two larger insect-like arms. Their stomachs were armored, like a bug, and the rest of them was covered in thick green moss. Four glowing green eyes leered down at Star, their catlike pupils shining with malice. Their beaks were blood red and dangerously sharp.

The plant monsters silently crept up on Star, their mouths drooling and chewing silently. All the while Star was too focused on talking to him than.

He charged forward to the creature on her right. Star immediately stopped talking and took a stance, ready for him, but he ran past her. His shoulder slammed into the monster square in the chest. It screeched horribly as it was sent flying into the forest.

Instead of fear, Star smiled and whooped with joy. “Finally, a chance to let off some steam!”

She ducked under the other monsters swipe and jumped high in the air. She landed on top of its head and grabbed hold of the flower. She leaped off and pulled hard as she fell. The strength of her fall and pull caused it to slam face first into the ground.

Three other monsters burst from the ground and charged, roaring as the did. Star and Lendrz both charged as well.

Lendrz started off by punching one of them in the thorax. The monster’s body folded around his fist, its hard rugged shell cracking. He finished it off it with a powerful uppercut, knocking it skyward. It slammed onto the ground and didn’t move.

Star danced and weaved between the two monsters. Neither of the monstered could even touch her. She jumped up and did a perfect split in the air, kicking both of the monsters in the face. Both of them reeled backward.

Lendrz grabbed onto a monster's spongy back and tossed it into the other. The force was strong enough to send both of them crashing into a tree. They didn't even try to get up.

Both Lendrz and Star stood ready, waiting for any other monsters to show their face, but none did.

Star bounded to Lendrz with a bright smile on her face. “Wow, that was some great fighting back there. I really needed a good fight,” she said happily. “You know, I need to call you something. What do you think?”

“Bwah!”

“Bwah it is!”

Bwah smiled, pleased to have pleased her.

“You know, maybe you can come with. I think I have a plan.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Star stood at the dining hall. At her side was Bwah cover in a bedsheet with eyeholes cut out, but all of his horns poked through.

Before the pair stood the King Rivers and Queen Moon of Mewni. They stared at the pair. If looks could kill, Bwah and Star would be a pile of ash.

Star looked down at her feet, sweat beading down her forehead.

“I’m waiting, Star,” Queen Moon said coldly, tapping her foot.

“I can explain mom! I just need some time to get my story straight,” Star said, still refusing to look up.

“Bwah!”

“Quite, Bwah, you’re not helping. I’m trying to think of a way to get us out of this.”

“Star, the truth,” Moon snapped.

Her daughter took a deep.

“Okay, but it’s kind of a long story.”

“Just don’t forget the part where you set the castle on fire for the second time within twenty-four hours, dearest daughter.”

Just as she finished her sentence, a chunk of the ceiling collapsed and smashed whatever tables and chairs that were intact. Both Bwah and Star jumped at the sound. The King's and Queen's stare only grew colder.

“Does saying I’m really, really, really, really sorry help?” Star asked, looking up at her mother with pleading eyes.

“No,” the Queen and King said simultaneously.


	2. A Terrible Plan, Some Corn, and Fire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you don't know anything about trolls in Homestuck, please read this. This is just a very short version of it. Trolls are an insectoid alien race from Alternia. Trolls society is based on a hemospectrum, the color of your blood. Bwah is the third-highest overall, but the highest on land. Violet bloods and fuchsia are seadwellers, being able to breathe and live underwater. Fuchsias are always female and are the empress. Since they can only be one empress, the existing empress usually kills the young one. The higher up on the hemospectrum you are, the longer you live and the stronger you are. As a purple blood, Bwah is a subjugator, a class of trolls who dress up like clowns and subjugate lowbloods. Yeah, I know that sounds weird, but Homestuck, in general, is weird. All of them have cany corn colored horns, nails, and black hair. Some trolls can have natural streaks of color matching their blood color. The higher you are on the hemospecrtum, the lower you're body temperature is. Sometimes, high bloods are called cold bloods and low bloods are called warm bloods. Note, the slower heartbeat is not part of Bwah's natural biology. Trolls are also very warlike. Due to a prior failed low blood revolution, all adults are prohibited from being on their homeworld. Once trolls reach adulthood, they join the adults off-world, invading other planets. I'll explain more as needed.

Star and Bwah together made an unusual duo. A blond starry-eyed princess and a gray horned monster. The princess led Bwah through the Forest of Certain Death, making sure he didn’t fall into another pit of quicksand or step right into the mouth of a carnivorous plant, which happened considerably often.

Star tugged at the back of his shirt, stopping him from walking right into yet another carnivorous plant.

“Jeez, Bwah, you really need to be more careful. This place is called the Forest of Certain Death for a reason, you know. Because you’ll die if you’re not careful,” Star said.

Bwah glance at her before slowly nodding, but it was obvious from the look on his face that he understood nothing.

Star sighed. “You know, trying to talk to someone who has no idea how to understand you is pretty hard,” she said to herself as he paced in a small circle. “Okay, how do you talk to someone who has no idea how to talk?”

She stopped in front of Bwah and faced him. “You,” she began slowly, pointing at Lendrz, “follow me.” She held out her palm out, used her other hand to make a walking motion, and pointed at her. “Do you understand?”

Bwah tilted his head and furrowed his brow. Star could practically hear the gears turning in his head. Finally, he slowly nodded.

“Great, so you understand, right? Let’s go.”

Star continued through the forest, frequently looking behind her to make sure Bwah didn’t wander off, but he didn’t. He carefully followed behind Star, going as far as to walk in her footsteps. Together, they set off to Butterfly Castle.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Together, they trekked through the gloomy forest. They dodged hunting vines, ducked under poisonous puffballs, and snuck past all kinds of monsters. Despite the danger, they managed to avoid any and all dangers.

After some time, they reached the end of the forest and stepped out into the light. The sun had risen since Bwah had first entered the forest. There was a large, beautiful city off in the distance built on hilly land. It was too far to see any specifics, but he could see massive castles springing high into the sky from the center of the city. They were towers built out of pinkish stone topped with colorful domes so decorated they looked like ornaments. Flags were placed on top of many of the towers, waving colorful flags in the air. The entire castle was protected by a massive moat and wall. Not far off the castle, much more humble villages dotted the lands around the wall. A river ran down the side of the kingdom deeding into the ocean. Large fields of corn were planted near the village. The river ran between the cornfields.

“Pretty amazing, right?” Star asked as Lendrz stepped beside her. “I live there, on the top.” She pointed up at the larger towers grouped at the center.

Bwah stared in awe at the castle. Even from this distance, he could appreciate the work that went into the caste and the beauty that was the result.

“Well, come on. We’re almost there. Now that we’re out of the forest of death, this should be a walk in a park,” Star said, beckoning for Bwah to follow.

“Bwah!” Bwah responded eagerly. He followed closely behind Star, taking in the sight of the castle on the surrounding area. It was a stark difference from the Forest of Death and Bwah felt at ease. Although he did feel that it was a tad bright for his liking.

They reached the outskirts of the village. Bwah could just begin to make out small dots moving about that were Mewmans. Before he could go any closer, Star grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him into a small grove of trees. Bwah turned to see a serious expression on her face.

“Okay, Bwah, I’m going to need you to really listen to me right now. If we get caught, both of us will get in _big trouble,_ Star said, holding her arms out to add emphasis. “Don’t worry, I have a plan. If nothing goes wrong, we won’t have to worry about anything- even fires! First, I need you to wait here while I go out and get some kind of disguise. Understand? You need to stay here.”

“Bwah,” he answered.

“You say that, but I’m not sure you do. Just in case. You need to stay here,” Star began slowly. She pointed at Bwah before pointing at the ground. “Stay here.”

Bwah looked down at his feet with a confused look plaster across his features. He looked back and forth between Star and the ground she was pointing at. Realization finally dawned on him. He nodded, crouched down, and began digging into the earth with his bare hand. Bwah stood up and presented Star with a heaping handful of earth mud with a toothy smile.

Star looked at the mud in his hands to Bwah. “No, that's not it. Let’s try this again,” she said as he pushed Bwah’s hands down, letting the dirt fall to the ground. Star sat down on the earth with her legs crossed. She patted the ground in front of her for Bwah to follow suit. Bwah sat in front of her and patiently waited for the next set of instructions.

“You are going to have to sit here and wait while I go and get a disguise for you to wear,” Star said, pointing to Bwah and to the ground. “I go, and you stay.”

“Bwah?” Bwah said uncertainly, cocking his head to the side.

Star stood up and Bwah started to get up as well, but Star out her hands on his shoulder to stop him.

“No, just wait here, and I’ll be back before you know it,” Star said calmly, but sternly.

Bwah pouted and crossed his arms, but he did not move to get up again. “Okay, that’s great, just stay here for a sec, and I’ll be back before you know it,” Star assured.

Bwah watched Star leave the small grove of trees, but he stayed out. He just hoped that she would come back soon enough.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Star approached the village. The people of the village were dressed in simple, drab clothing. Most of the adults were busy taking care of day to day business. Children ran about, laughing as they played tag or whatever game the could come up with. Star would prefer to not be seen, even if the villagers would be ecstatic to see her, the princess of Mewni. The more discreet she was, the better.

Star snuck kept just outside the village, using lone trees, fences, and whatever else she could find as cover. She spotted a clothesline filled with clothes in a simple hut’s backyard. She carefully snuck into the backyard and looked through the clothing and fabric. Star pulled a large, plain white bedsheet from the clothesline.

“This is perfect,” Star whispered to herself as she bundled the sheet up and tucked it under her arm. “Now I just need to head back and we can get going.”

Star snuck past the village once again. Just like before no one spotted her. Everyone was too preoccupied with their own lives to pay any mind to the young blond princess as she snuck around. Star approached the small grove of trees where she left Bwah. She hoped he followed her instructions and stayed put. Bwah was a strong fighter, but he wasn’t very smart.

“Hey, Bwah, you still in here?” Star called as she stepped into the small grove.

“Bwah,” he answered.

The monster was still seated in the same spot where she left him. Bwah waved at Star and smiled when he saw her.

“Great, you didn’t move. Alright, here’s the plan. We’re gonna disguise you with this,” Star said, holding the sheet up to Bwah. “We just gotta smuggle you through everyone and into the castle. Easy, right? Great plan, isn’t it”

“Bwah.”

“Thanks. I am pretty amazing, aren't I? Let’s get going,” Star said, tossing him the bundle.

Bwah caught the bundle and unraveled it. He looked at it questioningly.

“Here, let me help you with that,” Star said as she took the shoot and covered him with it. The sheet was long enough to cover him from his horns to his feet and then some. The top of the blanketed monster shifted left to right.

“Oops, sorry. I forgot about the eyeholes. Hold still for a second,” Star said as she pulled hard on the sheet and used a pair of his horns to cut a pair of crude eyeholes into the sheet. It sat awkwardly on his head because of his horns, but he could still see through it.

“There we go. Now you can see,” Star said taking a step back to examine her work. The sheet covered every inch of Bwah. His horns have the top of him an odd shape, but that was fine. After all, she had a plan.

“Come on, follow me. My parents are gonna notice I’m gone soon,” Star said waiving for Bwah to follow.

“Bwah,” he answered excitedly, excited to finally get moving.

“Even though you have a super great disguise, we’re still gonna want to avoid pretty much everybody, okay. Just follow my lead. I have literally tons of experience sneaking in and out of the castle,” Star said as she led the way out of the small group of trees.

The pair avoided the bulk of the villages as they circled the city. They crept from tree to tree, boulder to boulder, and from hill to hill. They reached the main entrance of the kingdom and hid behind a hill. Even from the outskirts of the village, they could see the imposing drawbridge suspended over a moat. A steady train of large wooden wagons pulled by smaller warnicorn rolled into the kingdom proper. Inside the wagons were piles upon piles of corn and other materials. Only a few homes dotted the land around the main gate, leaving it mostly clear. The only people around the drawbridge were the caravan drivers and some guards at the gate.

“See those, Bwah?” Star asked as she pointed to the wagons.

“Bwah,” Bwah answered and nodded.

“Are you sure? Because this part is really important. If we mess up, we won’t have another chance.”

“Bwah.”

“I’m just gonna assume you understand, okay. We’re gonna have to jump onto the back of those wagons. After that, we just sit tight for a short ride. Let’s go,” Star said as she took Bwah’s hand and quickly snuck down the hill with Bwah close behind.

They reached one of the houses that the wagons passed by. They waited as the wagons rolled past them until the last one of the line approached.

Star turned to Bwah and held out three fingers and began counting down. “Three, two, on.”

Bwah and Star took off just as the wagon began to pass them. Star jumped into the back of the wagon and Bwah jumped after just a second after her. Both of them landed on a pile of corn. Star turned to Bwah.

“Become one with the corn, Bwah,” Star whispered ominously as she sank into the corn.

Bwah followed her lead and dug himself into the pile of corn until he was submerged completely. He could not see Star or anything except corn for that matter. All he could hear was the wheels of the wagon rolling through the dirt road and the occasional bump until the familiar voice of Star spoke softly to him.

“Just keep quiet, Bwah. If anyone hears us, we’ll get caught,” Star whispered.

“Bwah,” he whispered back.

“Exactly.”

Both of them lapsed into silence as the wagon continued to slowly roll its way into the gates. There was a noticeable change when the wagon rolled onto the drawbridge and into the city. The ride was a lot smoother once the wagon was on the paved road, but no amount of smooth driving would make a bed of corn constable. The corn jumped and shited as the cart rolled through the city.

The cart rumbled and shook as they made their way to wherever was its destination. Bwah felt Star shift as she cautiously poked her head up just enough to see.

“Come on, Bwah,” Star whispered as she took his hand from underneath the corn. She pulled him up with her as they jumped out of the wagon.

They landed on to an empty street. The wagons kept rolling until they reached a bunch of large storehouses. The wagons were separated and entered a warehouse depending on what they were hauling.

Star quickly pulled him into an alleyway, out of sight. This part of the city was built out of grey, sturdy stone. The buildings were simple and rectangular. These buildings were storerooms for supplies and materials.

Star turned to Bwah. “The guards around here are mostly inside the buildings, so we have some time to talk. The wagons took us close to the castle, but we still have a ways to go before we are home free. Oh, hold one. Your horns are starting to tear the sheets,” Star said.

True to her word, the tips of all four of his horns were beginning to poke through the sheet.

“I mean, you’re already suspicious-looking enough, being a walking sheet and all, but the second they see your horns they're gonna shout monster. Here, let me help you for just a bit,” Star said as she shifted the sheet slightly to hide his horns and poked another set of eyeholes.

“There we go. We’re going to have to keep an eye on that. Those horns are pretty sharp. Now, let’s go. Don’t worry about getting lost. I know these streets like the back of my hand,” Star said. “I’ve snuck out of the castle so many many times I lost count.” She stood proudly, with her hands on her hips and a smile on her face.

“Bwah.”

“Great. Come on.”

Star lead the way through the alleys and side streets without any trouble. These small pathways were considerably dingier than the main ones. Trash was shoved against the walls and the cobblestones were cracked and worn down. Soon, the simple square building gave way to more elaborate housing, and the sound of people also grew. There was a low, but steady chatter coming from the main streets. It was also much better kempt than the streets from before, but not by much.

“Okay, we’re gonna have to be more careful from here. There are loads more people everywhere,” Star whispered. “Just stick close to me and be quiet.”

“Bwah,” Bwah whispered back, trying to imitate her movements, with mixed results.

They continued to sneak through the city. This time they moved much more slowly. Star checked around the corners to make sure they didn't run into anybody. Occasionally, someone would walk through the streets. Whenever that happened, Star would quickly guide Bwah behind a corner or a pile of trash.

Star stopped pointed up to the beautiful towers. They were much closer to them now, but they still had some distance to go.

“That’s where we’re going. I snuck down by tying all my clothes into a rope. I don’t think most people have enough clothes to make a rope that long but being the princess means I have tons to spare. The tricky part is making sure you make your knots tight enough. Trust me, you only get to make that enough once. My mom is totally gonna freak when she finds I ruined all my clothes, though. But what else am I gonna do with a bunch frilly clothes anyway? They just get in the way when you’re fighting,” Star explained.

“Bwah,” Bwah said.

“You said it, Bwah. We’re going to have to do this the hard way, I think,” Star continued as they snuck through the streets. “Don’t worry, though. I have another plan.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Most of the castle and the surrounding area was mostly deserted. After all, there was a monstrous fire ravaging through the castle. Luckily, no one was hurt in this fire or any of the past fires. Normally, the royal castle being set ablaze would be cause for concern, but they have become somewhat of a semi-common occurrence that began when the princess learned to walk. Only a few guards and the people working on the repairs remained. The repairmen worked quickly and efficiently. They have had a lot of practice at repairing the castle at this point.

Said princess was currently trying to sneak in what she assumed to be a monster into the royal castle.

“Here’s the plan. Most people are away because they’re scared of a little fire. So, what we’re gonna do is try to sneak through the parts that are still being fixed, so that’s most of the castle. I don’t think anything else is gonna work. You know, with the whole you not understanding a word I say thing makes things kinds tricky,” Star said, waving a hand in Bwah’s direction.

“Bwah.”

“Come on. Look over there,” Star said, pointing at the towers that were visible all the way from the Forest of Certain Death. Now that Bwah was much closer to the castle, he noticed that the towers were actually built into a large mountain. Many other towers were built all over. There were so many towers built, they almost completely blocked the mountain from sight. A sturdy brick wall blocked off any entry to the castle grounds proper. The only entrance inside was an equally tough drawbridge, which was currently closed. All in all, it would be impossible for them to enter the castle... if it wasn’t for a decent-sized hole near the drawbridge.

“Yeah, the hole in the wall isn’t usually there, but lucky for us I totally bust through the wall with a warnicorn. It was an accident, though. Maybe I should stop trying to tame wild warnicorn by riding them through the kingdom... Nah, I’m sure it’ll work eventually,” Star said. “Anyway, let’s get going.”

Bwah followed Star as she crept through the deserted streets. Once they reached the hole in the wall, Star carefully peered over the edge.

“Alright, the coast is clear. Stay close and don’t make a sound,” Star whispered to Bwah.

Slowly and carefully, the pair snuck into the royal courtyard proper. A particularly damaged tower was their destination. It was spacious and would have been quite the sight to behold if it wasn’t for scorch marks and rubble. Well, it was technically still a sight to behold, but for the opposite reason than usual. Where once was beautiful fountains and immaculate statues were reduced to piles of rubble.

Bwah gave Star a questioning look. “What? I told you it was an accident. Give me a break. Just focus on sneaking. We’re almost inside,” Star said.

The entrance of the caste would normally be closed be sealed with a set of thick wooden doors. Said doors had been rammed off their hinges and had been struck with so much force that they had almost snapped in half. The rest of the room did not fare much better. The rug that was laid across the length of the room was in shreds and covered in hoof marks. Scorch marks covered a good deal of the walls and floors. The room was long and wide, like a large hallway. There were doors along the walls of the room. At the end of the rooms sat two beautifully carved wooden chairs. Or, at least that’s how they usually looked. Currently, they looked more like piles of splintered wood.

Bwah gave Star another questioning look. The princess had the decency to look embarrassed. “It was kind of a big accident,” she said halfheartedly. “Anyway, it looks like this part of the castle is empty. They must be fixing up some other part of the caste. Let’s go. We don’t want to waste this chance.”

They walked down the wrecked room until Star opened one of the doors just a crack. To Bwah, they all looked the same, but Star seemed to know what she was doing. Star carefully snuck a peek through the door.

“Okay, Bwah,” Star whispered. “There are some people in the next room, but their busy fixing stuff up. We can totally sneak past them, no problem. Remember, just keep close and don’t make a sound.”

“Bwah.”

Star quietly opened the door and stepped in with Bwah only a step behind. This room was even larger than the one before. Unlike the one before, rows of long tables were placed along the room. Unlike the other room, this one was in better condition. For one, most of the ruined furniture had been replaced already. Now, only a few of the long table and chairs were reduced to piles of firewood. Most of the scorch marks have been taken care of. A massive lit silver chandelier with candles was suspended above the middle of the room. A handful of people were working on cleaning the mess, sweeping up the destroyed furniture and any other debris. They were far too preoccupied with their work to notice the princess of their kingdom and a monster sneaking right under their nose.

“That’s where we’re going, Bwah,” Star whispered to him. She pointed to a grand staircase leading up higher into the castle on the end of the room.

Carefully and slowly, they stuck close to the wall. Luckily, none of the workers looked up from their work. Once they reached the stairs, Star climbed the stairs as quietly and quickly as she could. Bwah was about to follow, but familiar scent stopped him in his tracks. A familiar corny scent.

One of the workers, a sandy-haired young man had just taken a seat at one of the newly replaced tables. He reached into a small satchel and pulled out a bag of corn chips. Right as he opened the bag, one of the other workers called out to him.

“Hey, kid!. We’re clearing out. The chandelier's bolts have been damaged when the princess rode that warnicorn through here. It shook the room when it bashed into the walls. We’re heading out until someone takes it down. Hurry up. You’re sittin’ right under it,” an older worker shouted. All the other workers were also leaving the room.

“I’m on it,” the sandy-haired man answered and he placed his snack in his bag and stood up to leave. However, he felt a presence standing right behind him. He whipped around and was face to face with someone wearing a bedsheet over them. Whoever was under there was wearing some kind of hat underneath because the top was lumpy and odd-shaped. A pair of eye holes were cut into the sheet below another set of holes. He stepped back, startled for a moment, but that quickly faded. He relaxed and smiled.

“Oh, man. You almost had me there, pal. Is this some kind of prank or something? If it is, you’re gonna have to come up with something better than that,” the young man said, laughing lightly. “Come one. We better get outta here. You hear what that guy said. It’s dangerous to stay around here. Take that sheet out and let’s get out of here.”

The young man tried to pull off the sheet, but it caught on something underneath. He pulled harder on the sheet and a pair of horns tore through the sheet followed by a second pair.

The second he saw the horns, he froze and his mind flooded with fear. Horns like that could only mean a monster. He was sweating buckets and trembling with fear, but he couldn’t stop himself from grabbing the front of the sheet and pulling it up to see the face of the monster that would surely end his life today. finally, the sheet was pulled up and he got a good look at the face of the monster. 

Contrary to what he expected, the monster was very monstrous aside from the silvery-gray skin, colorful horns, and yellow sclera.

“Uh, easy there, you terrifying monster, you. You don’t want to eat me. I’m all skin and bones, and I definitely taste awful,” the worker could barely gasp out, his voice trembling and faint. As much as he desperately wanted to turn away and run as fast as his legs could carry him, but he was frozen on the spot.

The monster cocked his head to the side and looked at him curiously before smiling and revealing a set of wickedly sharp teeth.

The mewman tried to scream, but his breath caught in his throat. The monster was definitely going to eat him now, but he still couldn’t manage to move, even to save his life.

“Mo-mo-mo,” was all he could manage to choke out as he stared at the monster’s toothy smile.

Unbeknownst to both of them below, the chandelier was on its last legs. The fastenings holding it up creaked and groaned loudly as it began to give. The mewmans was too preoccupied being paralyzed with fear to notice, but Bwah heard the sound. He looked up to see the chandelier lurch downward as the fastings began to fail.

Bwah wordlessly grabbed the mewman by his shirt and effortlessly pulled him along with him as he walked out from the chandelier's path. The mewman man offered no resistance unless you considered shaking like a leave as resistance. The sheet he was wearing fell back over Bwah’s face once he lifted him up. Once they were out of harm’s way, Bwah released his hold on him. The mewman’s legs gave out from underneath him the second Bwah let him go and he landed on his rear. He looked up at Bwah and raised his arms in front of his face in a feeble attempt at protection, waiting for him to feast on his bowels or whatever it is monsters did to bowels. Instead, the monster simply stared back at him from underneath the sheet, without saying a word or moving a muscle.

With a final groan, the fastenings from the chandelier finally gave of the ghost and ripped clean from the ceiling. There was a loud crack signaling its fall. The silver chandelier plummeted to the ground n a blick of an eye. It slammed into the ground with tremendous force. The castle floor was cracked and whatever furniture was underneath it was smashed to pieces.

The chandelier smashing into the ground woke the mewman from his stupor. He scampered away from Bwah before getting up and running as fast as he could to escape. No doubt that the mewman would warn everyone that there was a monster in the castle, but no one would believe him. After all, how would a monster manage to sneak into the castle?

Bwah watched the mewman run out of the caste, but he lost interest. Instead, he looked down and saw that he had dropped his satchel. He picked it up and after some fiddling with it, he opened it. He quickly rummaged around in it for a moment before retrieving the opened bag of corn chips. Bwah pulled up his sheet, licking his lips in anticipation. He had lost his snacks earlier when they fought those plant monsters. Bwah upturned the bag over his open mouth until it was empty. He crumpled up the bag and tossed it away.

“Bwah, what are you doing down here?” a familiar voice asked him.

Bwah turned to Star standing behind him with her hands on her hips and irritated look on her face. He chewed his mouthful of corn before nervously swallowing.

Star looked at the fallen chandelier to Bwah. “You know, I have no idea if that was me or you,” she said, gesturing to the chandelier. “Whatever, we have to go before anyone else comes.”

“Bwah.”

Star walked to the chandelier and examined it more closely. “Whenever I mess up, there’s usually a whole lot more fire involved,” she said.

Just as she finished her sentence, a _fwump_ signaled a fire springing up from below the chandelier. One of the candles had fallen from the chandelier. The smashed wood underneath provided great kindling for the fire to feed on and grow.

Star and Bwah stepped back from the rapidly growing flames. It began spreading to the rest of the room and showed no sign of slowing.

“Actually, Bwah, this looks like my handiwork now that I look at it from this angle. Come on. Let’s get out of here before we get in trouble,” Star said to Bwah, without looking away from the spreading fire.

“Before you what, young lady?” an older voice asked from behind them.

Star froze in her place. “Oh, boy,” was all she managed to eep out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“And that’s how we got here,” Star said to her parents. By the time Star had finished her story, the fire was extinguished by the workes. They left soon after at the Queen’s command.

Queen Moon, a tall, stern-looking woman. She exuded a regal aura without any effort. Her light blue hair was pulled up into a large heart shape. A similar crown to Star’s was fastened onto her hair with pearls and a pink and gold diamond ornament was secured just below her crown. Her periwinkle ballgown’s skirt was also shaped like a heart. Similarly colored gloves covered her halfway up her arms. Pink diamond and gold earrings matching her crown hung from her ears. However, the most striking part of her were the pink diamond marks upon her cheeks.

King Rivers stand beside her was quite different from his wife. While Moon was tall and slender, Rivers was short and stocky. He wore a frilly blue shirt, grey trousers, and brown boots. Gold epaulets adorned his shoulders and a cape reached all the way to the floor. A thick beard and handlebar mustache covered most of his face. His beard reached halfway down his body before splitting and pointing upward. He held silver scepter topped with a blue crystal crescent moon with a star that was taller than he was. He stood upright and proud. Despite being smaller than Bwah, Rivers appeared to look down at him.

“So, there really is a monster under that blanket,” Moon said as she took hold of the blanket Bwah was wearing and pulled it off.

Of course, there stood Bwah. Most of his clothing was covered in a layer of dust and dirt from his trek through the forest.

“Do you have any idea how dangerous monsters are, daughter,” King Moon, sated more than asked, eyeing Bwah warily.

“Him? Yeah, he’s pretty strong, but in the Forest of Death, he almost got himself killed dozens of times back there,” Star said, waving off her father’s concern.

“Be that as it may, Star, do you really think bringing a monster here was a good idea? I mean, this is Butterfly castle, no place for a monster. What were you even planning to do if you succeeded?” Queen Moon asked her daughter.

“Uh, yeah, I didn’t exactly think that far,” Star said softly, scratching the back of her head nervously.

Moon pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head. “Star, you need to get ahold of yourself. You’ll inherit the royal wand before you know it, and you’re not ready for the responsibility of it. Do you understand, Star?... Star?”

Star was bouncing excitedly on her heels and rubbing her hands together. Her eyes were glazed over, fantasizing about the moment she would get her hands on the wand.

“Star!” Moon scolded her daughter. Star snapped out of her daydreams. “Daughter, I know you have a habit of being reckless, but as the princess of Mewni, you must think about the kingdom. One day, you’ll be queen, and you need to start preparing for that day. And, sneaking a monster into Butterfly castle is definitely not the way to do that,” Moon continued.

Star groaned. “I know all that. You only remind me, like, all the time,” Star said.

“With how often I remind you, it should be expected that you remember,” Moon retorted.

Star sighed in defeat, giving up on the matter. “Fine, whatever. So, what now?”

“Now, your father and I need to discuss this incident in private,” Moon said.

“What about Bwah,” Star said, gesturing to him, who had remained silent throughout the conversation.

“Take him to Dr. Jelly Goodwell,” Moon said dismissively.

“Dr. Jelly Goodwell? Who’s that?” Star asked.

“She’s the royal monster expert.”

“There’s a monster working on the castle,” Star asked, surprised.

“No, a monster expert. Now, hurry along. Your father and I need to talk.

“Alright, come on, Bwah,” Star said, gesturing for him to follow.

“Bwah,” he said as he began to follow.

The king and queen watched the pair leave.

“Are you certain it’s a wise decision to allow our daughter alone with a monster,” Rivers asked his wife.

“I don’t think we have to worry about that. Both you and I know Star can hold her own just fine,” Moon answered, a small smile curving her lips.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Bwah.”

“Yes, of course kicking those doors in was completely necessary. How else was I gonna open those doors? Also, I never realized how many weirdos are around here. I wish I could unsee that reverse horseman. Alright, I think this is the one,” Star said as they walked through the castle’s corridors.

This time Star opened a door with the aforementioned doctor’s name upon a large silver crest without kicking.

The large room was filled entirely skellingtons, bookcases filled with both books, bones, skulls, and so many other items, some familiar, most not. There were piles of books scattered around the room, some high as a person. Drawings and notes were pasted to the wall all over the room. At the end of the room sat an old gray-haired woman. Her shoulder-length hair was pulled into a ponytail. A tall safari hat with a purple gem affixed to it sat on her head. She wore a matching shirt and baggy shorts. A crest with the word monster expert was sewn into her shirt. She looked up from a massive book on her surprisingly clean desk to look at the pair behind a pair of thick glasses.

“You’re the royal monster expert, Dr. Goodwell, right?” Star asked.

“Yes, I am,” the Doctor answered in a soft voice while adjusting her glasses.

“Finally. You have no idea how many rooms I had to burst through before I found this one. Anyway, what can you tell me about him?” Star said, grabbing onto Bwah’s sleeve and pulling him inside the room.

When Dr. Goodwell saw Bwah enter the room, her eyes lit and she moved across the room with the speed of a woman less than half her age.

“Oh my, I’ve never seen a specimen like this,” Dr. Goodwell said excitedly as she looked over him.

“So, you don't know what kind of monster he is?” Star asked. “Aren't you supposed to be the monster expert?”

“I know more about monster than any other mewman. If there’s anyone who can figure out what kind of monster he is, it’s me. Would you mind if I run some test?” Dr. Lovegood asked Star.

“Sure. If Bwah is alright with it,” Star answered. “Are you okay with that?”

“Bwah,” Bwah said once he heard his name.

“Wonderful. Just wonderful,” Dr. Lovegood said. “Follow me, if you would Bwah,” she said as she walked to her desk and retrieved a chair from somewhere in the room’s clutter. Bwah sat and waited for the doctor to conduct her test.

Dr. Goodwell took a notebook from a pile of books and a pencil. She gave Bwah a quick lookover, scribbling furiously in her notebook all the while. Then she looked closely at his horns.

“Hmm, do you have any feeling in your horns?” Dr. Goodwell asked, but she didn’t wait for an answer before flicking one of his multicolored horns.

Bwah flinched and said, “Bwah,” in protest.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Star added.

“How did that feel?” Dr. Goodwell asked.

“Bwah doesn’t actually understand mewman,” Star clarified.

“Oh my, then how have you been communicating?” Dr. Goodwell asked.

“Well, all he says is Bwah. I just kinda assume that he’s agreeing with me most of the time,” Star said.

“Where did you encounter this specimen?” Goodwell asked, her eyes never leaving Bwah.

“I met Bwah inside the Forest of Certain Death. He was stuck inside of a quicksand pit. After helping him out, he just kinda started following me, then a bunch of weird plant bug monster attacked us, and we totally kicked their grassy butts. He’s a lot stronger than he looks,” Star explained, shadow boxing an invisible monster.

“That would explain why most of him is covered in dirt. Unfortunately, I don’t have any tools to test his strength. I’ve never had a live subject to test,” she said, looking at his filthy clothes. “Hold on a moment, what’s this?” she asked, noticing his purple sign on his shirt.

“That sign on his shirt? I have no idea,” Star admitted.

“Noted,” said Dr. Goodwell as she noted it into her notebook. “Say ah, Bwah.”

Bwah tilted his head and have the doctor a confused look.

“Like this, Bwah,” Star said, pointing at herself. “Ahhh.”

Bwah shrugged before imitating her, showing off his razor-sharp teeth. “Well, this is unusual. His mouth is purple,” Dr. Goodwell said.

“Purple? Is that good?” Star asked.

“I won’t know until I finish my examination,” Dr. Goodwell said after Bwah closed his mouth. She pressed the back of her hand against his forehead

“He also appears to be quite cold, but he seems fine. Wait, what’s this? He appears to have a scar on his forehead,” Dr. Goodwell said, brushing the hair away to get a better look. She revealed a large brutal scar across his forehead.

“It seems our friend here has suffered from serious injury some time ago,” Dr. Goodwell said.

“What are you tal- oh, that’s a big scar right there,” Star said as she looked over Dr. Goodwell’s shoulder to see the large scar. “What could have made a scar that big?”

“However he received the scar, he must have been struck quite hard. His skin appears to be thick and sturdy,” Dr. Goodwell said, once again scribbling in her notebook again. “We’re almost finished here. Allow me to feel your heartbeat,” the doctor explained. She pressed her hand against his chest and waited for his next heartbeat… and waited… and waited.

Dr. Goodwell frowned and was just about to give up before his heartbeat once again. “His heart is worryingly slow, but he still appears fine. If you would allow me just one final test, I would like to take a blood sample if that’s alright with you,” she said, reaching into her pocket to retrieve a needle while pocketing her notebook.

“Sure, you don’t have a problem, right, Bwah?” Star asked.

Bwah simply shrugged, seemingly indifferent to the series examinations that the doctor had conducted.

“Wonderful. This might sting a little, but just stay still,” Dr. Goodwell said in a soothing voice. She slowly tried using the needle on one of his arms but frowned when the needle failed to pierce his skin. She pushed again much harder, this time managing to puncture his skin. If it hurt Bwah. he didn’t show it. Dr.Goodwell pulled the plunger, extracting a small sample. Much to the mewman’s surprise, instead of red blood, dark purple blood filled the syringe. 

“This gets more and more interesting,” Dr. Goodwell said, examining the vial more closely. “Very cold, too.”

“So, do you know what kind of monster Bwah is?” Star asked, looking at Bwah with a new sense of curiosity.

“No idea, I’m afraid,” Dr. Goodwell said as she pocketed the vial of blood, took her notebook, and furiously began writing in her notebook.

“What do you mean you have no idea?” Star asked, pouting and crossing her arms. “Aren't you supposed to be the monster expert?”

“Indeed I am,” Dr. Goodwell said without looking up from her notes. “I know everything there is to know about all known species of monsters. The only logical conclusion is that Bwah here is an undiscovered species of monster.”

“Wow, really! Isn’t that exciting?” Star asked Bwah.

“Bwah,” he answered cheerfully.

“Anway, thanks for the checkup, doc, but we should head back to my parents,” Star said, beckoning for Bwah to follow.

“Before you go, princess, might make a suggestion?” Dr. Goodwell asked before they could leave.

“Sure. What is it?” Star answered.

“It seems our monster friend here is quite intelligent, despite not understanding our language. He’s also clothed in quality if old clothing. Perhaps our mysterious friend here might be having some memory issues. He did have a considerable scar on his head. Maybe, a more recent injury could have triggered some kind of memory loss. Or, at least that’s a possible hypothesis,” Dr. Goodwell explained. “It might be a good idea to see if he can be taught to communicate properly. That way we can know for sure.”

“Amnesia? You think so?” Star glanced at Bwah with a concerned look. Could he really have some kind of memory loss? “Yeah, that’s a good idea. If we can understand each other, we can get to the bottom of this. Now, let’s get going, Bwah. My mom and dad probably want to talk with us again,” Star said. Bwah followed the princess as she left the doctor to her thoughts and speculations.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Our daughter gets more and more reckless with each passing day,” King Rivers to his wife. “At this rate, she’ll be the biggest danger to the kingdom once she inherits the wand.”

“I know, Rivers, I know,” Moons said. “I just don’t know what to do with her.”

“We could postpone the ceremony. That would give some time to mature and might bring her to her senses,” Rivers suggested.

‘That’s not an option. Every princess has had the wand passed down onto to them at the age of fourteen, and I will not be the queen who broke that tradition. There has to be another option. Well, three is Saint Olga’s School for Wayward Princesses...” her voice trailing off at the end of her sentence.

“Saint Olga’s? Has it really come to that?” King Rivers asked sadly.

“I don’t know. It’s an option, but… we don’t have many others. Regardless, Saint Olga’s should be a last resort.”

Both lapsed into an uneasy silence. King Rivers hastily decided to change the subject. “And what about that monster she brought home? Bwah, was it? What do you propose we do with him?” Rivers asked.

“That’s a much easier answer. The best option is to send him on his way without making a scene. I don’t know what she was thinking, bringing a monster to the castle. Star should know that better than anyone else that they are far too dangerous. She spends all her time fighting them instead of being a proper princess,” Moon complained.

“Don’t you think she appears to be a tad attached to him?” Rivers said. “You know how Star can be once she puts her mind to something.”

“We will definitely have not have a monster inside the kingdom. They’re far too dangerous,” Moon answered sternly.

“You know what you really got to what out for? Clowns. They’re the real killers. Turn your back on them, and they’ll make, quite frankly, a very tacky painting with your blood. It wouldn’t be so bad if they had a lick of talent between them,” a familiar voice called out to them.

Both the king and queen turned and were surprised to see a mouse-sized blue man dressed in yellow robes with a rope tied around his wait and a small blue gem over his naive would be. He was floating over a large old tattered book sitting on the castle floor. Pages and notes stuck out from the edges. An eight was written on the cover with faded yellow and brown and a green trident like symbol went through it. A pair of blue and pink gems were studded into the eight and a padlock kept it shut. The corners and spine were also reinforced with an old and battered bronze metal.

“Glossaryck? What are you doing here?” Moon asked, surprised to see her old magic teacher here. 

“I’m here to guide the owner of the book, and until it’s handed down to Star with the wand, that’s you,” Glosseryck answered with his usual somewhat irritating smile.

“If you’re here to offer some advice, just get over with,” Moon said, making a come-on gesture with her hand.

“Perhaps you’re being a little too drastic regarding a certain clown,” Glosseryck said.

“What clown? Are you talking about the monster?” Moon asked.

“Well, that would depend on your definition of a monster, but yes I’m talking about him,” Glosseryck answered.

“What about him?” King Rivers asked, pointing his staff at him.

“Perhaps you two could stand to be more gracious hosts. He has come a long, looong way and turning him away would just be plain rude,” Glosseryck said, laying back in the air as if reclining on a sofa.

“You should know more than anyone that having a monster in the castle is a terrible idea, Glosseryck,” Moon said, crossing her arms and frowning. “How will the people react? I can’t even imagine how many meetings with the High Commission, follow up meetings, pre-meetings, and any other kinds of meetings that can think of. All of which, I’ll have to sit through.”

When Moon brought up the High Commission, Glosseryck’s smile fell and he sat up. “Why don’t you let me worry about them, and you can set out the fine china,” he said, bowing in mid-air. Before the king or queen could ask any further questions, he turned and began floating away. The book floated up to meet him, and he sat on the book, riding away, like a magic carpet.

“What shall we do, dear?” asked his wife, turning to face her again.

Moon watched as Glosseryck floated away with the book. He opened the door without touching it and floated away. She sighed heavily. “I don’t know. Glosseryck has never steered the queens wrong before but keeping a monster can’t end well, but… I’m afraid it’s probably for the best that we follow his advice,” Moon said.

“Shall I set out the fine china as well, dear?” Rivers asked.

“No, I’m positive he was making a joke… Actually, dear, perhaps it would be wise to get it ready, just in case,” Moon said. “Star should be here soon.”

_**SLAM** _

“And that would be our daughter. She does have a great sense of timing, doesn't she?” Rivers stated more than asked. Moon nodded in agreement.

They turned around to see Star step into the room with the monster close behind her.

“Hi, mom! Hi, dad! I have some exciting news,” Star announced as she walked up to her parents with Bwah. She was bouncing on her feet and a smile on her face, practically bursting with excitement. “So, it turns out Bwah is an undiscovered type of monster. Dr. Jelly Goodwell said she’s never seen anything like him before. Isn’t that right, Bwah.” Star lightly slapped him on the back. Bwah smile despite not really knowing what was going on.

King Rivers gave Bwah another look over. “Now that you mention it, I don’t ever recall seeing a monster like him before,” Rivers said. Moon, however, had more pressing matters on her mind.

Moon pinched the bridge of her nose and took a deep breath for what she was about to say. “I can’t believe I’m doing this,” she muttered softly to herself, low enough where only her husband could hear her. “Your father and I have decided to provide Bwah with housing as long as needed,” she told Star.

“That might be a while,” Star said. “You see when I took Bwah to Dr. Goodwell, she said that the reason he doesn’t talk is that he has amnesia. She said it’s a good idea to teach him how to understand us and talk.”

“Amnesia, eh? I suppose we won’t know for sure until he tells us,” King Rivers said. He looked at Bwah with renewed curiosity.

“Don’t worry Star. It will be taken care of. For now, can you tell me if anyone saw Bwah around the castle?” Moons asked. The possibility of the monster being an undiscovered species and having Amnesia was definitely worth looking into, but now was not the time. Now, she felt a headache brewing. She had a lot to figure out before the day’s end.

“I don’t think anyone got a good look at Bwah, except for Dr. Jelly Goodwell, of course,” Star answered.

“Great. I need some time to think about how to do this,” Moon said. “I wonder how glossaryck will convince the Commission.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Just so you know, there’s gonna be a monster staying at the castle.”

“What!?”

“What!?

“What!?

“Baaah!?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It might be a while before I write another chapter of this. I'm going to focus on the main story until I finish the arc I'm working on, however long that takes. After that, I'll probably write a chapter on To Begin from Zero. I don't know what I'll focus on after that. Anyway, tell me what you think.


	3. Bonding Over a Good Book and a Couple Fights

Bwah sat at a small desk watching his instructor, Dr. Jelly Goodwell, as she went over the day’s lessons on a mobile blackboard. While his original clothing was stained and torn beyond repair, the castle staff managed to make a near-identical copy. The makeshift classroom was set up in a small spare room in the castle. 

Despite the Queen’s initial resistance, the good doctor had insisted she be the one to teach him. She explained that as the Royal Monster Expert, she was the best one suited to teach Bwah. Eventually, the Queen allowed it. Dr. Jelly Goodwell took to her new duty with gusto, and she did it well. Bwah was an eager student, and with the doctor’s teachings, he quickly learned how to speak and write fairly well- even if his vocabulary was limited. As soon as Bwah learned how to communicate well enough, the Queen herself had visited him during one of his lessons. She had asked him where he came from and who he was. Unfortunately, Bwah didn’t remember anything before getting stuck in the quicksand. No matter how hard he tried to remember, everything before was simply a blank. Moon decided to let him stay in the caste for the time being.

Under the Queen’s command, Bwah was restricted to the castle, as to not cause a commotion amongst the people. Star was also under close watch for trashing the castle and was forbidden from leaving as well, not that it stopped her from trying. Star and Bwah spent most of that time together. Or, more accurately, Star would often drag Bwah along with her on her antics around the castle.

“Alright, Bwah, I think that’s enough for today,” Dr. Jelly Goodwell said as she turned from the blackboard to Lendrz. “As always, another day of good work.”

“Only because I have a good teacher,” Bwah said with a smile.

Bwah stood up from his seat and left the room. To his surprise, Star was nowhere to be seen. She would usually wait for him to finish his lessons before starring trouble.

“I guess I’ll have to look for this time. I just hope I’ll find her before she gets herself into trouble,” he said to himself.

Bwah began his search of the castle for the missing princess. Usually, there was a trail of mischief following the princess wherever she went, but today the castle seemed eerily calm. This only made Bwah even more anxious as he quickened his walk. As he walked, his mind began to race with the potential mayhem Star could be causing at that very moment. 

Maybe she let the warnicorns free from their stable. Maybe tried sneaking out was caught- again. As his mind grew cluttered with the possibilities, he picked up the pace until he was just shy of a light jog. An occasional guard would spare him an odd glance, but none of them bothered trying to stop and question him. For the most part, most of the castle staff ignored him unless he tried to leave the castle. Bwah also didn’t try to ask them anything either or call Star’s name, lest he accidentally incriminates her if she wasn’t already caught.

“Where are we going?” a voice asked from beside him.

“Don’t tell anyone, but I think Star is up to something,” Bwah said without thinking or slowing or even looking at the source.

“What do you think she’s up to?”

“Now that I think about it, she hasn’t dragged me into any of her plans lately, so I think she’s up to something big.”

“Well, you’re right about that. I do have something big planned for the both of us.”

Bwah finally turned to see Star keeping pace right beside him in one of her royal dresses. “Oh, Star,” he said, surprised as he stopped. “Wow, I can’t believe you snuck up on me that easily.”

“Yeah, I know. I wasn’t even trying to,” Star said as she stepped in front of him.

“So, what’s this plan of yours, and is there any way I can convince you to not do it?” Bwah asked, already having an inkling of what she was going to say.

Star smiled brightly in spite of Bwah’s nervous expression. “I have a plan to get us out of this castle,” she said excitedly. “And no to your second question.”

“Are you sure about that, Star? I mean, you’re already on your parents’ bad side. I don’t think sneaking out will help,” Bwah said, trying to plead with the princess.

“Yes, I’m sure, and no there’s nothing you can say to change my mind. Because, from this day on, I, the future queen of Mewni, vow to never be bored again,” Star replied, her smile never wavering as she struck a pose and raised an arm straight into the air.

Bwah sighed and placed his hands on his hips. “Alright, what’s the plan? I hope it’s a good one. If you’re good at anything, it’s finding some way to break the rules.”

“Daww, you know me so well,” Star said. She looked around the hall to make sure they were alone before leaning close and whispering excitedly.

“There was a mistake and the castle accidentally ordered a ton more pillows than they needed, and they’re sending the extras back. I overheard some of the guards talking about it. If we hurry, we could reach it.”

Bwah leaned back and have Star an off look. “Pillows? How is that going to help us leave the caste?”

“I’ll explain when we get there. Just follow me,” Star said as she began walking through the castle’s halls.

Bwah shrugged and followed. He hadn’t spent very long with the princess, and he learned very quickly that whenever she got an idea in her head, there wasn’t anything in the Multiverse that could stop her. The best he could do was try to steer her away from causing too much destruction.

Star led him through the castle to a balcony. This balcony looked over the courtyard. Below, Bwah could make out what looked like a delivery man arguing with one of the guards. They were too far away for him to hear what they were saying, but from the animated gestures they were making at each other, he could tell they were arguing. It was almost funny seeing the much smaller delivery man arguing with the armored guard. A large cart piled high with decorative pillows stood some distance away. A warnicorn was hitched to it, pawing and sniffing at the ground, uninterested in its surroundings.

“So, what is your plan? How is this gonna help us get down?” Bwah asked as leaned over the edge on the banister on the handrail.

There was no answer right away. Instead, Bwah saw some movement from the corner of his vision. He turned to see Star leap over the handrail. Bwah’s voice caught in his throat as he watched Star plummet to the ground feet first. Before he could make a move, she plunged into the pillow cart. Bwah stared at the cart, mortified and unable to make a sound.

Star poked out of the top of the pile. Bwah breathed out a sigh of relief and relaxed when he knew she was safe. She gestured for him to follow her lead. Bwah looked around before shrugging. There was no way he was getting her back up, so might as well join her.

Taking a deep breath, Bwah aimed carefully and lept. Once he was in the air, he closed his eyes and let gravity do its thing. He felt the wind rush around him as he fell and his stomach turned uncomfortably, waiting for what was hopefully a soft landing. He waited, and waited… and waited.

“Uh, hey, Bwah, you can open your eyes now. You made it,” Star voice came from beside him.

Opening his eyes, Bwah noticed he was laying among the soft pillows. The warnicorn didn’t deem them important enough to do anything about them and ignored them. “I don’t know why the castle’s returning these. It’s like I’m laying on a cloud.”

“I know, right,” Star said as she nestled deeper in the pile.

“It’s not too late, you know. We could go back to the castle before anyone notices we’re gone,” Bwah advised despite already knowing the answer.

“Come on. You gotta learn how to let loose,” Star answered.

“And I think you should learn that there’s a time and place for everything. You’re going to receive the wand soon. Do you really think now is the time to do something like this?”

As soon as the word wand left Bwah’s lips, Star’s eyes grew distant and she smiled gleefully as she no doubt was imagining the spells she would caste once it was hers. Bwah leaned over and snapped his fingers in front of her face.

“Star, you’re doing it again. Come on, snap out of it,” Bwah said.

Star moved to wipe the drool that had begun to drip down her cheek with the sleeve of her expensive dress. Bwah stopped her before she could and instead used one of the pillows to clean her cheek instead.

“You worry too much, Bwah. Sometimes, you just need to lay back, and see where the adventure takes you,” Star said.

“I would worry a little less if you would tell me what’s the plan. Are we just going to ride this cart until something happens?”

Star sat up. “That’s the best part. They didn’t want to return the pillows because there’s been a bunch of bandit attacks on mewmans on the roads if they have loads of stuff. It was dangerous enough to bring this here. All we have to do is wait until we reach the roads until this cart is attacked. This way, I can sneak out and help the kingdom,” she reasoned.

“I guess that’s alright if it helps the kingdom. It is your job to help the people of Mewni after all,” Bwah said to himself, his resistance beginning to fail.

“Yeah, for the good of the kingdom. Us having a little fun is just a bonus. Now, hurry up and hide. I think they’re done arguing.”

Bwah nodded and burrowed into the pile with Star. The disgruntled merchant approached them, grumbling under his breath. Bwah and Star held their breath as the merchant climbed onto the cart’s seat. With the crack of the merchant’s reins, the cart shifted forward at a steady pace. The gentle rumble of the cart drowned out the sound of the two’s breath, so they let themselves relax. Even with the cart’s rumble, neither of them wanted to risk talking to each other. 

The comfort of the pillows combined with the gentle rumble of the cart began to sooth Bwah. His breathing relaxed and his eyelids grew unbearing heavy. Bwah tried to keep his eyes open, but he failed miserably after only a few seconds. A couple more and he was out like a light. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Something was shaking Bwah, slowly rousing him from his sleep. He opened his eyes to darkness. It took a moment for everything to come back to him and realize someone was whispering to him.

“Bwah. Bwah, wake up. I think something’s happening,” Star’s voice whispered.

Bwah shook his head as he fully woke up. Now that his senses had returned fully, he heard a commotion coming from just outside the cart. The voices were too muffled to understand clearly, but he could tell from the tone and volume that several people were shouted at the driver from all around the cart.

“Star, can you see what’s happening? I would check myself, but my horns would poke through,” Bwah whispered. 

“Gotcha,” Star answered as she poked her head just above the pillows. “Woah, we’re surrounded. There’s gotta be a dozen bandits around us.”

“Alright, first we need to come up with a plan,” Bwah began.

Before he could say another word, Star exploded out of the pile. Bwah groaned before jumping out as well. The cart had traveled to a forest he didn't recognize. Thankfully, it wasn’t the Forest of Death. The trees weren’t as closely knit, plenty of light still passed through the canopy, and there were no distant sounds of strange monstrous creatures. A well-traveled dirt road wound through the forest, and they were no other signs of civilization.

Another distinction was the dozen Mewman bandits surrounding them, just like Star said. Clad in dingy mismatched metal armor and wielding rusted weapons, they didn’t appear to be much of a threat. The bandits themselves were dirty and held their weapons clumsy. Once Star and Bwah were out in the open, the bandits stepped back, obviously not expecting to see the princess and Bwah.

One of the bandits stepped forward from behind the others, raising the count. His armor was slightly less dingy than the others, his large sword was mostly clean, and he held his sword with some semblance of skill. “Looky at we ‘ave here!” he called to the other confidently. “If it ain't the crown princess herself and some other raggamuffin. What do you all think about bagging the princess and ransoming off for a fortune!”

The other bandits cheered and raised their weapons before charging at the pair. Six went for Star and the rest targeted Bwah. A short bandit charged at Bwah with a too large ax and his helmet bouncing unsteadily on his head. Bwah easily sidestepped the clumsy overhead swing and slammed the bottom of his fist on top of the bandit’s head. The helmet was forced as low as it could, halfway down his face, getting stuck in the process. The bandit dropped his ax and tried pulling his helmet off, but to no avail. He stumbled away from Bwah, still pulling on his helmet and squealing all the way.

A pair of bandits charged Bwah, each swinging rusty swords.

“You shouldn’t run with swords,” Bwah said as watched them charge.

The bandits jumped together stabbing their swords down at him simultaneously. Bwah jumped clear of the way, letting them stab their swords into the ground. Bwah clubbed the back of his hand against the head of the bandit closest to him. He was careful to avoid doing any real damage, but enough to knock her unconscious. She slumped forward and dropped her sword. The other managed to recover and charge him, but Bwah simply lightly slapped him. The bandit dropped his sword and fell to a seating position, holding his cheek dazed.

Before Bwah could make another move, something heavy and hard slammed into the back of his skull. He whipped around with a snarl and murder in his eyes. He was greeted to the face of a bandit reading a heavy war hammer for another swing.

Once the bandit looked into Bwah’s eyes. He hesitated and lowered the hammer. Bwah growled and continued to stare down the Bandit. He grimaced and let the hammer fall to the floor. Bwah growled again and continued his stare. Finally, the bandit lowered himself to the floor face down with his hands behind his head. Bwah humfed and turned to see the last of the six. His stance was shaky and terror was written clear across his face.

Bwah took a step to the last bandit, but before he could do anything else, the bandit dropped his weapon and lowered himself on the ground as well. Bwah nodded and took a deep breath, calming down. He turned to check on Star. Just like he expected, she stood among six defeated guards.

“What took you so long?” Star asked cheekily.

“Don’t look at me like that. I may be strong, but you’ve been doing this for years,” Bwah retorted.

Star stuck out her tongue at him.

From behind Bwah, they could hear the clink of poorly fitted armor plates. Both turned to see the leader of the bandits trying to sneak away. Bwah and Star exchanged a look.

“I wouldn’t run if I were you,” Bwah called out. “One of your buddies gave me a good whack on the back of my head. If you make me chase you, I won’t be very happy with you.”

The leader froze, dead in his tracks. Slowly, he dropped his weapon and dropped to the floor like the other two. Bwah nodded and turned back to Star.

“So, did you get that out of your system?” Bwah asked.

“If I’m being honest, this was way too easy,” Star complained.

“Hey!” the leader said from the floor.

“Quiet, you!” Bwah snapped. “It’s not my fault you did a terrible job training your guys. Can you please keep an eye on these guys, Star? I’m gonna check on the merchant.”

Star straightened up and saluted him. Bwah nodded and walked to the front of the cart. The driver was slumped over his reins. The tethered warnicorn nosed the dirt path, uninterested in what had just happened. Bwah swallowed and reached to the driver and gently pushed him. The driver did not respond. Bracing himself for the worst, Bwah pushed harder. The driver leaned across his seat, pale and motionless. Before he could respond, he noticed the steady rise and fall of his chest. Bwah breathed out a sigh of relief. 

“Oh, thank goodness. He must have just passed out when he was attacked,” Bwah said to himself. 

Bwah returned to Star. She was just where he left her, watching the defeated bandits. “Everything at the cart seems to be alright. Now that this is over, what’s the plan to get back to the castle?”

Star didn’t answer immediately. Her eyes avoided his and she tapped her foot nervously. “Uh, about that…” she began before trailing off.

“You don’t have a plan to get back to the castle, do you?”

When Star didn’t answer, Bwah sighed and let his shoulders sag. “So, what do we do now?” he asked.

“We should be able to help with that.”

The pair was surprised to see a small squad of guards marching down the road towards them. The captain at the front stared them both down with a stern look.

“Oh…” was all Bwah and Star could say.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Star and Bwah stood before the throne of Mewni. Only King Butterfly was seated while Queen Moon paced back and forth across the room, her expression unreadable. This had been going on for a while, and neither Bwah and Star dared try to break the silence. They could only wait until Queen Moon decided to speak with them. Finally, she stopped before them and turned to face them with a disapproving look.

“Star, do you take some kind of enjoyment from disobeying your mother?” Queen Butterfly asked with her arms crossed. “Because that’s the only reason I can fathom for you constantly disobeying me.”

“It’s not like that, mom. It’s just that we’ve been stuck here with nothing to do for so long. We’ve been so bored!” Star complained. 

“Boredom is no excuse to break the rules and go out to pick fights,” Moon responded curtly. “As I have said so many times before, this isn’t behavior befitting the Princess of Mewni.”

“I stopped a bunch of bandits that were robbing people crossing the roads. Isn’t it my job to help the people?” Star countered.

“I was aware of that problem, and I sent the Knights to take care of it, the ones who caught you. All you’ve done is recklessly endanger yourself solving a problem that’s already been solved. As for you, Bwah.”

Moon said as she turned to Bwah, her disapproving look never fading even for a moment. “You know better, and as such, I expect more from you.”

Bwah looked down at his feet. He couldn’t bring himself to look her in the eyes or say anything in his defense.

“Star, the coronation is mere weeks only. With your behavior lately, I don’t think you can handle the wand,” Moon warned.

“I can handle the wand, mom,” Star complained. “If I can fight monsters and bandits, the wand should be easy.”

Moon shook her head. “I’m not getting through to you. There is more to leading a kingdom than fighting. A queen must be patient, intelligent, and wise.”

“I’m totally all of those things,” Star said stubbornly.

Moon closed her eyes and waved Star away. “Miraculously, nothing was destroyed, so you’re free to go, but you’re still grounded.”

“Come on, Bwah,” Star called Bwah, whose interest was still focused on his shoes.

Bwah followed nodded and followed Star out. Once the doors closed behind them, leaving them alone in the hall, Bwah spoke up. 

“Your mother has a point,” he began. “Maybe you should cut back a little. At least until your coronation.”

“Don’t tell me you’re taking my mom’s side,” Star said.

“All I’m saying is that listening to her might not be a bad idea.”

Star crossed her arms and huffed. “You’re starting to sound just like her.”

“I think we can both agree that we should try to avoid doing anything too wild until your mother cools off,” Bwah offered.

“I guess you’re right. I think we can hold off on any other adventures, at least for a little while,” Star relented.

Bwah stretched and yawned. “I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted. I’m going to check if the castle has a few extra pillows. They’re like little clouds, soft and fluffy.”

“Count me in.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As it turned out, Star took Bwah’s advice to heart. For a while. Star did her best to avoid doing anything too dangerous. Her antics were kept inside the castle, and the damages were kept to a minimum. Bwah continued his lessons, and he learned to read fairly quickly. Once he learned, he found himself enjoying reading, even outside his lessons. Star attended her own lessons, usually about how to act like a princess and eventually queen, and they increased in frequency as the date of her coronation drew ever closer. Unlike Bwah, Star didn't take to the increase very well, and quickly began to grow restless, often complaining to him about her lessons.

Bwah sat in the royal library, a massive room with towering shelves upon shelves crammed full of books. He was seated at one of several long wooden tables that took up most of the free space of the library. His nose was currently buried in an old, thick, leather-bound book.

Ornate chandeliers hung high overhead, illuminating the room with a warm glow. That combined with the comforting smell of old books, Bwah often almost fell into a comfortable nap. Most of the library's books were historical archives and research, but there were other genres here and there. The archives were incomplete. The farthest they went was as far back as Skywynne Butterfly, the Queen of Hours. He learned that the castle had been burned to the ground before her rule. As it turned out, having a castle made entirely out of old wood was quite the fire hazard. 

Normally, Bwah was dead to the world when he was engrossed in a good book, it was hard to ignore the loud taps of a pair of shoes against the library's stone floor. Bwah looked up from his book to see Star heading his way. Her arms were crossed and an annoyed expression was set on her face. Bwah offered her a sympathetic smile as she sat in the chair across from him and put his book down.

“Another hard day of lessons?” Bwah asked, already knowing the answer.

“Yup, as always,” Star complained. “Why are your lessons so short?”

“I only have to worry about learning the basics. You have to learn how to the queen. If it’s worth anything, I feel sympathy for you. How was that? That’s a new word I learned today.”

Star flopped forward on the table and groaned. “If this goes any longer, I’ll die of boredom,” she groaned.

Bwah leaned over and patted Star’s head. “There, there. I’m sure this will get better. Just wait until you get your hands on that wand. It will be all worth it then.”

“The wand~” Star cooed without getting up. 

“Yes, Star, the wand. Just try and stay out of trouble until the coronation, and everything will work out great,” Bwah assured.

This time, Star sat up straight. “Speaking of trouble…” she began.

Bwah crossed his arms and looked at her sternly. “Come one, Star.”

“No, you come on, Bwah,” Star complained. “I swore never to be bored again.”

Bwah rolled his eyes. “I don’t think your mother would take that excuse,” he said.

“That’s the best part. This time, I made a plan to sneak back inside the castle,” she said proudly.

“I don’t think getting caught is the issue. You should try to avoid doing anything that would get you in trouble in the first place.”

“Don’t say another word until you see this,” Star said as she placed a poster between them. “The guards started spreading these around the castle.”

Bwah took the flyer. A detailed illustration of a green chameleon monster looked back at him with his strange eyes and a coy smile. His body was long and lanky. He was dressed in a white frill shirt and tight black pants. A dark blue tricorn equally as ridiculous as the rest of his outfit sat on his head. The Chameleon was written below the picture along with a promise of a reward.

“What exactly is this?” Bwah asked.

“It’s a wanted poster for a dangerous monster,” Star began. “He’s been sneaking right into villages and even this castle to steal anything that isn’t nailed down. There have only been a few sightings of him, but so much has gone missing.”

Bwah set the poster down and sighed. “I have a bad feeling about where you’re taking this, but I’ll give you a chance. What are you planning to do with this?”

“I think you already know~” Star sang.

Bwah leaned back in his seat. “And I think you already know my answer.”

“Come one, Bwah. It’ll be fun,” Star urged.

“You’re a smart girl, Star,” Bwah began with a shake of his head. “That’s why I can never understand why you come up with these ideas.”

“Don’t worry. This time, I have a plan to get back inside the castle, too.”

“I don’t think we should even risk it, at all. Your mom might have cooled off after the last stunt we pulled, but she’s been under a lot of pressure to get everything ready for coronation day. By the way, I’m sure the Knights will take care of this, just like the last time.”

“Not this time. The knights put up these because they can’t handle him. If we don’t do anything, someone could get hurt trying to take him down,” Star reasoned.

Bwah ran a hand through his hair. She used the same reasoning she used to convince him last time, and it was working a second time. “I guess… But I still don’t think this is a good idea at all, Star. The best choice is to just let the Knights handle this.”

This time, Star leaned back in her chair and groaned. “You gotta live a little, Bwah.”

_No matter what I do, Star will sneak out and find that monster. The smart thing to do would be to tell Moon, but I can’t do that to Star, even if this is a terrible plan. I guess if I want to be sure Star is safe, I’ll have to go with her._

“Fine, Star, I’ll come. Now, how do you plan to get out of here?” Bwah relented, letting his shoulders sag.

“That’s the best part,” Star sang as she held out an iron key with a large bow. She stuck a finger through the bow and swung the key in circles. “Can you guess what this opens?”

Bwah laughed. “There’s no way I can do that. I wouldn’t even be able to count all the doors here if you gave me a week… Which probably isn’t saying much now that I think of it. I haven’t learned to count that high… probably.”

“Come one, just guess,” Star urged as she held the key out to Bwah.

Rolling his eyes, Bwah said, “I don’t know. Maybe the royal treasury?”

“Nope,” Star said cheekily. 

“One of the gates?”

“Nope.”

“Uh… the kitchen?”

“Nope.”

“Okay, Star we can spend the entire day playing this game our you can tell me what the key is for. Make your choice.”

“Fine,” Star said, still smiling. “It’s the key to the armory. One of the guards dropped it.”

Bwah cocked his head. “How is that going to help us sneak out?”

“With this, we won’t have to sneak out. We can just get a couple of pairs of armor, and we just walk out.”

“That… could work, if we can find a pair of armor our size, and we don’t get too close to anyone or try to talk.”

“Yup, I have it all planned out,” Star said proudly as she stood up and began spinning the key again. She spun it until it spun off her finger. 

“Oops,” Star said as she scooped it back up. “Don’t worry, I won’t drop it again.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I feel kinda bad for messing up this helmet,” Bwah said as he fidgeted with his crumbling helmet as they walked down a dirt road in a large grassy plain. 

Both Star and Bwah were dressed in the armor used by the guards. A light blue steel chest plate over a dark blue tunic. A simple golden star was painted directly in the middle of the chest piece. Dark and light blue grieves covered their legs. The hard leather boots they wore were surprisingly comfortable. Light blue bracers and thick leather gloves protected their hands. Layered gold and blue cloth kilts swayed with them as they walked. Of course, both of them wore full helmets made of the same light blue metal. Another golden star was painted on the forehead and small ornamental wings stuck to the sides. In Bwah’s case, he had to force his horns through the metal, ruining it thoroughly. The armor them poorly, shifting uncomfortably at the slightest movement.

“I wouldn’t worry about that,” Star assured as they walked. “It’s only a helmet.”

“I know, but still. Anyway, I’m surprised that everything went perfectly,” Bwah replied. “Like I said, you’re a lot smarter than you let on. If only you worked on anything besides making your mom angry.”

Star blew a raspberry at Bwah. She raised the flyer and read the details on the back. “The Chameleon should be around here somewhere,” Star said.

“I don’t see anything except for grass. It looks like there’s nothing around here for miles. I know this is pointless, but we could always turn back,” Bwah remarked.

“No, maybe they wrote the instructions wrong? Here, you try to find him,” Star said as she held out the poster to Bwah.

Bwah reached out for it while looking through the field. He tried to grab it, but he came up with nothing. He turned to see Star holding nothing in her hand.

“Uh, Star, where did the poster go? Did you drop it?” Bwah asked.

“Didn’t you just take it?” Star asked.

“No, I didn’t take the poster.”

“Well, someone took it. If you didn’t, who did?” 

“That would be me.”

Bwah and Star stopped and turned to see the monster they were looking for standing a few feet before them. The poster was spot on in its description.

The Chameleon looked at the poster and frowned. “Is this how you Mewmans see me? Whoever drew this should be dragged through the streets and tried for crimes against perfection,” he said with a refined, cultured tone.

“I don’t know about that,” Bwah said as he tensed for the upcoming fight. “I’d say the artist did a pretty decent job. It’s like you just jumped out of the page.”

The Chameleon scoffed and flicked the poster. “This abomination looks nothing like me. I mean, first of all, the color of my scales it completely off. I’m a lime green, not a forest green. That is a very important distinction! What an amateur mistake. There’s an incorrect number of frills on my shirt and my tricorn is off-center. I could list all the atrocious mistakes for hours upon hours. In fact-”

“So, are we going to fight or do you want to complain, Chameleon?” Star asked, getting ready as well.

The Chameleon stepped back, an offended expression on his face. “What did you just call me the Chameleon?” he asked, disgust thick in his voice.

“Uh, yeah. Isn’t that your name?” Bwah asked.

The Chameleon stamped his foot and his scowl deepened even further. “It’s the Cham O’ Leon, not Chameleon!”

Bwah and Star exchanged a mischievous look. 

“Cham O’ Leon is kinda a mouthful,” Bwah said. “Can we call you Cham for short?”

Cham stamped his foot again. “Absolutely not! My name is Cham O’ Leon, not Cham!” he shouted.

“What about O’,” Star asked.

“No!” O’ shouted. “That is not my name! My name is Cham! O’! Leon!” As he shouted, his scales flickered an intense scarlet.

“Okay, those two don’t work for you. Does Leon work?” Bwah asked.

Leon sighed and dragged a hand down his face. “Whatever,” he said, the red scales fading to his usual green. Let’s just fight. I’ve grown tired of talking to you two.”

Leon crumpled the poster into a ball and tossed it behind him. The next second, he disappeared into thin air.

“Err, what just happened?” Bwah asked as he looked around for Leon. “Did he run?”

Before Star could answer Bwah, a powerful impact slammed into his gut. Even with his armor and inhuman body, the breath was knocked out of him and he was knocked into the air. Bwah flew a few feet before hitting the ground and sliding a couple more. When he slowed to a halt, he stared up into the sky without moving a muscle.

“Okay, that hurt,” Bwah said as he got to his feet.

“Bwah!” Star called as she moved to help him. As the took her first step, something wrapped around her ankle and hoisted her upside down. Her helmet tumbled to the ground and her golden hair spilled down.

“Woah!” Star gasped at the sudden feeling of vertigo.

Leon fazed into existence with his tail wrapped around Star’s ankle, holding her in the air. He looked at Bwah as if he was a bug under a microscope.

“You’re a monster aren't you?” Leon asked as Bwad recovered.

“So what if I am?” Bwah asked as he brushed the dirt off his armor.

“That raises some questions. Like what is a monster doing with the princess of Mewni?” Leon continued, swinging Star with his tail. Star tried freeing herself, but his tail’s grip was too strong to fight and held her too far to reach him.

“Bwah, maybe you can spend a little less time talking and a little more time kicking his guy’s scaly tail,” Star called as she fruitlessly swung her fist at Leon.

“Well, you heard the lady,” Bwah said as he raised his fists and charged.

Before Bwah could even get close, Leon quickly spun around releasing his hold on Star as he spun. Star crashed into Bwah, sending them both tumbling to the ground in a tangle of limbs. They got to their feet as quickly as they could, but once they were up, Leon had disappeared again.

“Do you have a plan for this?” Bwah asked as he stood back to back with Star.

“No. What about you?” Star asked, trying to find some kind of sign of Leon.

“If I did, I wouldn’t have asked you.”

“You have a point there.”

What felt like the bottom of a boot slammed into Bwah’s face. He stumbled back and an invisible scaly tail wrapped around his ankle. It pulled him up and hurled him through the air. For the second time in under a minute, Bwah sailed through the air, hitting the ground on his back.

“I’m starting to get tired of this,” Bwah said as he stood up again.

“You’re telling me. I’ve had to put up with hearing you whine non stop,” Leon noted as he appeared between them. “Tell me, why did you choose to tag along with the princess.”

“Star is my friend, that’s why,” Bwah shot back.

Star charged Leon from behind, but, again, he disappeared leaving Star swinging at nothing. Something slammed into her back, knocking her to the ground. Bwah moved to helper her, but Leon struck him directly in his torso. The blow sent him stumbling back. He managed to stay on his feet this time.

“Is that all? I’ve heard you complaining long before I saw you. There has to be more to it,” Leon pressed.

“Sometimes you have to do things you don’t want to do if you want to spend time with your friends. If a friend wants to drag you all over the place and get into fights, then that’s what you have to do, even if you think this is stupid and pointless, and you hate it!” Bwah barked back. 

“My, it sounds like you and the princess have some issues,” Leon said as disappeared, letting him see Star still in the process of getting up. She looked up at him, concerned.

“Wow, Bwah… I mean, I know doing stuff like this isn’t your favorite thing to do, but…” Star trailed off.

“Yeah, that’s kinda- guh!” Bwah was knocked to the ground, face to face close to Star.

“Maybe this isn’t a good time to talk about this?” Bwah suggested.

“Let’s take care of Leon first,” Star agreed.

“My name is not Leon!” Leon barked. 

The pair noticed a small flicker of red scales near them. They looked at each other and nodded, the same idea in mind. They sprang to their feet, back to back again.

“I don’t know. I think Leon had a better ring to whatever you said your name was,” Star said, eyes scanning for any sign of red.

“It’s Cham O’ Leon!” he shouted accompanied by another flash of red.

“You sure? That still sounds like a mouthful,” Bwah added.

“Silence!”

This time, Star was ready. She jumped on the flash of red and held on to whatever it was. When she slammed into Leon, his cloak failed, revealing him plain as day. As it turned out, Star had latched onto Leon’s back with her legs wrapped around his back and her hands on his eyes.

“Gah! Get off if you know what’s good for you!” Leon demanded as he reached for Star.

Before he could reach her, Star began pummeling his face with her fist. The blows made him flinch and his hands couldn’t get a good hold or push. Bwah pressed the advantage and rammed his fist into Leon’s thin stomach.

Leon gasped and clutched his stomach in pain as he lurched forward. His legs buckled as he fell to a kneeling position. Star jumped from his back to the ground.

“Why you little,” Leon began as he already began to recover.

Leon’s tail flailed around wildly. Acting fast, Bwah leaped forward, grabbing onto his tail with both hands. Luckily, Leon’s tail was long enough where Bwah could hold the end of it while still being out of harm’s way. Leon tried to take a swipe at Bwah, but he was still too winded to fight back.

“What do you think you’re doing!?” Leon demanded.

“Just a little payback,” Bwah said as he began to spin while still holding the tail tightly.

“N-no! Unhand me this instant!” Leon cried as he tried to attack Bwah.

Ignoring the lizard, Bwah spun faster and faster. Within seconds, Leon was swinging through the air and blinding speed. His screams were distorted from the speed. Right as Bwah was about to let Leon go and let the lizard have it, something gave and Bwah fell on his rear, but Leon was still sent flying. Bwah watched as Leon sailed through the air before disappearing among the grassy knolls once he landed.

Realizing he was still holding onto something, Bwah raised the hand holding it. To his disgust, he was holding on to the still twitching tail of Leon. Dropping it immediately, he stood up and back away from the writing tail.

“Those things grow back, right?” Bwah asked more to himself as he wiped his hands on his shirt.

“Hey, Bwah, I think we need to talk,” Star said from behind him.

Sighing, Bwah turned to Star. “Listen, Star, I didn’t mean what I said earlier,” he began.

“Nope, not another word, Bwah,” Star interrupted, closing the distance and looking him in the eyes. “Just tell me the truth. I can take it.”

Bwah scratched the back of his head and shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “It’s not that I don’t love spending time with you. It’s just… I wish we could do something else together instead of just breaking the rules and getting into fights.”

Star turned her eyes to the ground, unable to meet Bwah’s eyes. “It’s just… when we first met, we fought those plant monsters in the Forest of Death, that was the moment we became friends,” Star said.”

“I remember,” Bwah said with a smile. “That is my favorite memory… That’s not saying much since I don’t remember much, but I have a feeling it still would be even if I remembered everything. ”

“You know, you don’t always have to join me on these adventures,” Star began sadly. “I totally understand if you want to take a break from me. I know I can be a handful.”

“You don’t need to worry about that, Star,” Bwah said quickly. “I’m okay with getting in a little trouble if it means I can spend time with you... Plus, I can be a little too serious. You were right about me learning to let live it up every once in a while. And who better to learn from than the princess of causing trouble? He finished with a smile.

“You shouldn’t talk to your princess like that,” Star said with a laugh as she playfully punched his arm. “And it wouldn’t hurt to do some of the stuff you want to do.”

“Now that you brought it up, if we hurry, we can still make it to the castle and get some reading down before it gets too dark,” Bwah said excitedly.

“Sure, Bwah. Whatever you say,” Star said. “Let’s go.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I didn’t think you liked history so much,” Star said as she sat down across from him with her own book. 

“Yeah, I’ve been reading a lot about the dragon-fighting knight Mercedes Martin,” Bwah answered.

“Star, are you here?” Moon’s voice called.

The pair turned to see Queen Moon making her way towards them. 

Star and Bwah quickly nervously exchanged a glance before composing themselves. Moon walked to Star and looked down at her expectantly.

“Hey, mom,” Star began. “What brings you to the library?”

“One of the keys to the armory has gone missing. Would you happen to know anything about that?” Moon asked.

“Uh, no. We’ve just been sitting here all day. Right, Bwah” Star asked.

“She’s telling the truth, Miss Moon,” Bwah said. “We haven’t left this spot.”

Moon looked unconvinced and scrutinized the pair closely. “...In that case, I’ll leave you two to it,” she said before turning and leaving them.

Once they were sure Moon had left, Star and Bwah smiled at each other.

“Looks like we got away with this,” Star excitedly. “I told you everything would work out.”

Laughing, Bwah said, “We didn’t beat her by much. A few minutes later and we would have been caught.”

“Anyway, time to get down to business,” Star said, her expression becoming serious in an instant as she settled down to read. 

Bwah laughed again. “Settle down, Star. It’s not a competition.”

“Says you!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Star yawned as her eyes lazily scanned through the page. She yawned again as she leaned forward, nearly resting on the table.

Bwah looked up from his book to see Star stretch her arms high in the air. She crossed her arms and rested her head on them. Her eyes fluttered before closing completely. Bwah smiled at the sleeping princess before returning to his book.

Maybe getting into a little trouble was worth it for moments like this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took me a good deal longer than usual. I've had a heck of a case of writing block for a few weeks and before I got my mojo back, school started again. I probably get much time to work on my next chapter. I got assigned a ton of papers, so that'll take up most of my free time.


	4. Taking a Dip Into Another- Wait, Haven't We Done This Before?

Today was the day. What day you might ask? To some, it was a day to be celebrated. The day where the Royal Magic Wand was passed from mother to daughter. To others, it was a day that would usher in a new slew of migraines. A day where magic would be added to the princess’s arsenal.

Bwah found himself leaning towards the latter, but he was still excited for Star. Regardless of what anyone thought, this was an important day event for her. Bwah walked with Star through the halls towards the throne room.

Star walking beside him, practically bursting with excitement. She skipped along the halls, a grin spread from ear to ear. It took all her restraint to not barrel down the halls to the throne room, hollering all the way. Bwah had to half walk, half run to keep up with Star.

“I think it’s safe to say that you’re excited for today,” Bwah commented as they walked. 

She didn’t answer verbally, but she nodded eagerly. Her smile remained fixed upon her face. 

“You can’t even open your mouth without screaming, can you?”

Another nod.

“Well, you won’t have to keep it together for much longer. Just a few more minutes and you’ll have it.”

This time, she couldn’t even manage a nod. Instead, she vibrated intensely. One more word and she would explode. The pair walked through the halls without incident. They found themselves standing before the doors leading to the throne room.

“Are you ready, Star?” Bwah asked as he turned to the princess.

Finally, Star couldn’t control herself. She began bouncing up and down in place. “I have never been more ready for anything in my life!” she shouted with glee.

“Then allow me,” Bwah said as he opened the doors for Star.

Beyond the doors stood just about every one of the most important people in the castle. They were lined up in a path leading to the King and Queen and dressed in immaculate clothing. King Rivers stood beside his wife. 

Queen Moon held the wand in her hand. The handle was smooth gold. The bottom was capped with a small blue jewel. A miniature crown topped the wand and just above it was a large heart-shaped blue jewel. Just like its owner, it was pristine and elegant, if a bit gaudy.

Once the doors were opened, every pair of eyes stared back at the pair. There was an even divide between the displeased looks aimed at Bwah and the looks of anticipation at the princess. Bwah bristled at the glares, but he straightened up and ignored them. If Star noticed the looks either of the got, she didn’t show it. Her focus was solely fixated on the wand Moon held.

Without wasting a second, Star ran to the King and Queen with Bwah not too far behind. She stood before Rivers and Moon, already reaching for the wand. Moon raised the wand out of her reach before Star could get a hold of it. Star continued trying to reach for it, gasping in excitement.

“Now Star, Began Moon, waggling a finger in front of Star’s face. “This wand is a big responsibility. If it falls into the hands of evil forces, the universe could be destroyed.”

Instead of answering with a coherent answer, Star jumped up and snatched the wand of Moon’s hands with a triumphant laugh. She held the wand into the air. Blue light coiled from the hand holding the wand to the wand itself. The light covered the wand entirely. Pink light exploded from the wand and a chime accompanied it. Once the light settled down, the wand glowed bright pink. Soon, even that faded, leaving its form changed completely. Star’s wand had a simple purple handle with a large dome-shaped head. A golden crystal was set in its face among a blue circle with hearts decorating it as well. White wings were attached to the back of the head and a small crown topped it off.

Once the wand was officially hers, she brought it close to her chest and looked down upon it with lights in her eyes. Once she calmed down enough to be coherent, she looked to her mother.

“Don’t worry mom,” Star said, waving her hand nonchalantly as she did so. “I can handle this.”

Star turned to Bwah and raised the wand into the air again. “I got it, Bwah. Now let’s break this bad boy in!”

“Right behind you, Star,” Bwah said.

_Hopefully, I can make sure she doesn’t burn anything down._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Is this far enough?” Star complained as she walked beside him. She kept her wand close to her heart the entire time.

“Yeah, I think so. We probably won't’ burn down anything important out here,” Bwah said as he turned to Star.

The pair had walked a fair distance into the grassy plains surrounding the castle. The only structures in magical combustion range were a few boulders and gangly trees. The closest villages were distant and out of harm’s way.

“Now, Star, where’s the glossary?” Bwah asked.

Star looked at him blankly. “The glossary? Why would I need that? I left it back in the castle.”

Bwah sighed. “Because magic can be very dangerous. If you mess up, who knows what could happen. Well, the glossary probably knows, but we don’t have the book.”

“Please. I’m sure I’ll get the hang of it in no time.,” Star assured with a smile. “Plus, Glossaryck wouldn't be much help anyway. You know how cryptic he is..”

“Okay, fine. Just make sure you don’t point that thing at me,” Bwah said as he moved to stand behind Star, out of harm’s way.

“You have nothing to worry about, Bwah. Just sit back and be amazed,” Star said as she pointed the wand at a lone tree.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Is that giant, flaming magic rainbow heading to where I think it’s going”

“Yup.”

“We’re going to get into huge trouble for this, aren't we?”

“Yup.”

“Are you as terrified as I am?”

“Yup.”

“Are you also thinking about running away, changing our names, and living new lives?”

“Yup.”

“Is there even a chance we’ll escape your mom?”

 

“Nope.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Nooooo!” Star cried in anguish as she grabbed onto Moon’s gown and flopped to the ground. “I can be good! Don’t send me to Saint Olga’s Reform School for Wayword’s Princesses!” She bawled with a wavering voice. As soon as she finished blubbering, she resorted to simply screaming.

Once Bwah and Star had gathered enough courage to go back and face Queen Moon’s wrath, they returned to find both parents waiting for them. A carriage pulled by a pair of winged lizard lions was being stocked by servants. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what was happening and Star didn’t waste a second throwing herself at her mother’s mercy.

“I know Star messed up, but can’t you give her another chance? It is her first time using the wand, after all,” Bwah tried to reason with Moon over Star’s screaming.

“Don’t worry, you two, we’re not sending you there,” King Rivers assured calmly.

And just like that, Star hopped to her feet and smiled cutely. “Oh.”

“Yet,” Moon added and Star’s smile dropped just as quickly.

“We’re sending you to train in a safer dimension. A place called earth, a planet completely devoid of magic,” Rivers continued.

“Earth?” Star and Bwah asked simultaneously.

“Yes, now come along, sweetheart,” Rivers said as he guided Star to the carriage.

Bwah moved to accompany Star, but Moon placed a hand on his shoulder. “I need to have a word with you, Bwah.”

Bwah turned to the Queen and gulped. He rarely spent anyone and one time with anyone besides Star, especially the Queen or King.

“Uh, sure, Mrs. Moon,” Bwah said, trying hard to keep his voice steady.

The Queen led him a little ways from the small crowd moving around the carriage. She turned to him with a stern look.

“So… what did you want to talk to me about?” Bwah asked nervously.

“What I’m about to ask of you does not leave this conversation. Do you understand, Bwah?” Moon asked.

“Yes, of course,” Bwah said quickly. “My lips are sealed.”

“Good. Now, I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you that Star can be… impulsive,” Moon began.

“... Yeah. I know she has her heart in the right place, but she can get… distracted sometimes,” Bwah admitted reluctantly.

“Then we’re at an understanding,” Moon continued. “Now, I’ve noticed that you’ve been a good influence on Star. You’re not always successful, but there’s been a noticeable decrease of disasters.”

Bwah smiled bashfully and scratched the back of his head. “Thank you.”

“Since I won’t be able to keep an eye on Star, I need someone else to do it. I want that someone to be you, Bwah,” Moons said. “I need you to act as a royal attendant, of sorts.”

Bwah breathed in sharply and looked at Moon with wide eyes. “Are you sure?”

“I am sure, Bwah. This is a big responsibility, but I trust you can handle it.”

“You don’t have to worry about a thing. I’ll do my best to keep Star out of trouble, just like I always have,” Bwah said with a salute.

“There’s a little more to it than that,” Moon said as she produced a small pocket mirror from the folds of her dress. It was a simple silver clasp mirror with a large purple jewel on the top half.

“This is a magic mirror,” Moon explained. “I want you to keep me informed on Star’s activities. To use it, all you need to do is open it and say Call Queen Moon”

Bwah took the mirror carefully, as it would shatter from his touch alone. Star had a larger, stationary version of the one he held in her mirror if he recalled correctly. “Wow, I don’t know what to say. I’m happy that you chose me to do this. This is a huge honor, but…”

“Is there a problem, Bwah?” Moon asked as she crossed her arms.

“It’s just… Star is my friend. I don’t like going behind her back like this. Also, I’m a little worried you might send her to Saint Olga’s,” Bwah explained as he held out the mirror to Moon. “Thank you for the opportunity, but I'll have to turn you down.”

Moon placed her hand on the mirror. Instead of taking it, she pushed his hand back to him. “Don’t be so hasty, Bwah. I’m sure we can work out a compromise.”

“I’m not sure we can talk this out. The last thing I want to do is anything that could hurt Star,” Bwah said firmly.

“Don’t you see? That’s exactly why I need you to accept. There’s no one else I can trust to keep Star safe once she’s out of the castle. If I promise that I won’t send Star to Saint Olga’s for anything you report to me, will you accept?”

Bwah made an exasperated sigh and began to tap his foot. “I still don’t know, Mrs. Moon. I’m not comfortable keeping secrets from Star.”

“And I’m not comfortable having my daughter stay in another dimension without someone I can trust looking after her. Please accept, Bwah,” Moon urged.

Looking at the jewel mirror at his hand, Bwah mulled over his options. He would already do his best to try and steer Star out of trouble. What would be the harm of letting her mother know what was going on? Especially if Saint Olga’s wouldn’t be an issue.

“Well, Bwah? What’s your answer?”

“I accept,” Bwah said finally as he pocketed the mirror.

“Good. Now, if you don’t have any questions, you may return to Star.”

Nodding, Bwah walked back to the carriage and entered. Star was slumped onto one of the leather seats bolted to one side of the carriage. An identical seat was on the opposite wall.

Bwah sat on the seat across from Star. She was too preoccupied with mopping to notice him.

“Cheer up, Star! It’s better than Saint Olga’s, after all,” Bwah said, trying to sound upbeat.

“I guess so,” Star said dejectedly. 

“Come one! It won’t be too bad. I mean, you still have the wand, right? Sure, it sounds like Earth won’t be as fun as Mewni, but that doesn't mean you won’t be able to make some fun,” Bwah continued.

“It’s not that. Mewni is my home. I don’t want to leave it.”

Before Bwah could try something else, a crack of the driver’s reins signaled the start of their journey. Star quickly leaned out of one of the carriages back windows.

“Goodbye, Mewni,” Star said sadly as she rested her head on her hands.

To his surprise, Bwah felt his chest seized by a deep sense of sadness as well. He didn’t have as many memories as Star did, but Butterfly Castle was all he knew. He doubted he would make the same kind of memories on Earth. 

Instead of trying to cheer up Star, Bwah solemnly looked out at Butterfly Castle one last time before the carriage passed through the portal.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“So, you say you’re from another dimension,” a stocky, heavy stated as he leaned back in his chair and pressed his hands together.

He wore a dark purple suit and a bright pink tie. What little orange hair he had remained stationed exclusively at the back of his head with a few long loose strands hanging over his shining dome. A thin mustache curled upwards upon his upper lip. He stared at the group through thick, square glasses. Principal Skeevs was written on a plage on his desk.

A click could be heard and the light within the room shut off. More clicks could be heard and the light flicked on and off. The adults turned to see Star flicking the light switch on and off repeatedly with a look of awe on her face. Bwah stood just behind her, looking over her shoulder at the light switch in awe as well. 

Star had changed from her stuffy ball gown to a simple seafoam green dress with white frills on her sleeves and the bottom of her skirt. A red headband with short devil horns sat on her head. She also wore pink and violet leggings with boots designed to resemble horned monsters. A small star purse with a smiling face was slung around her shoulder with a long thin cord. Bwah was still wearing a replica of the clothes he was found in.

“And you said there was no magic on earth,” Star said as she placed her free hand on her hip.

Bwah coughed and straightened up, doing his best to appear professional.

“Yeah, this isn’t going to work,” he said flatly, tugging on his lapel.

Instead of answering, Rivers produced a chest. He pulled the lid off to reveal a massive load of glittering gold coins and jewels. Skeeves nearly fell on his desk and practically stared at the chest of gold with dollar signs in his eyes. 

“They’re gonna love it here,” Skeeves cheered as he stood from his and raised his hands high.

Another series of clicks could be heard and the light began to flicker again. The adults to see Bwah flicking the light switch on and off and Star looking up at the lights.

“They’re going to need a guide,” Rivers said after he turned back to Skeeves.

“I have the perfect student in mind for this. He’s a stickler for the rules, a real safe kid,” Skeeves said quickly as he leaned close to the intercom microphone. “Marco Diaz to the principal’s office. Marco Diaz to the principal’s office.”

Skeeves turned to Bwah and Star. “Now, if you two will follow me, I’ll introduce you two to you your guide.”

The principal stood up and beckoned for the Star and Bwah to follow him as he stepped out of the office. The small chest was still in his hands as he went.

“Come on, Star,” Bwah said as he moved to follow. Star was too busy fawning over every small detail of the school.

Sighing, Bwah guided Star out the door, waving bye to Star’s parents. When Star and Bwah stepped out, Skeeves was waiting outside, looking at the opened treasure chest with glee. While they waited, Bwah took a moment to look over the campus. While it was a far cry from Butterfly Castle, Echo Creek Academy was still nice in its own way. Smaller, more mundane buildings were nestled among larger glass buildings. Trees were planted liberally around the campus as well.

Once he had his fill, Bwah leaned against the wall close to Star. A water fountain held Star’s attention. As she fiddled around with it, she accidentally pressed the button on the back of the spout. Bwah flinched as a small steam of water came out. Star gasped and took a fighting stance. The water shut off once Star stopped pushing the button.

After the fountain decided to bide its time instead of attacking, Star opened her mouth to bite the fountain. Before she could actually bite the fountain, Bwah grabbed onto her dress’s collar. 

“I don’t think whatever that is is very clean, Star. You’ll probably get sick if you bite it,” Bwah advised.

“That thing just spat at me,” Star complained, still trying to attack the fountain.

“That thing didn’t spit at you. Have you never seen a fountain before?” someone asked from behind them.

Bwah turned to see a boy around their age standing before them while still holding onto Star. He wore a red hoodie over a grey shirt, black jeans, and sneakers. His messy dark brown hair was swept to the side. A pair of chocolate brown eyes looked at the pair under thick eyebrows. A small mole dotted him just under his left eye. His boyish features were twisted by a combination of irritation and disappointment.

Bwah could spy Skeeves scurrying off into the distance. It seemed Bwah had missed their conversation.

“Come on,” Bwah said as he let go of Star. “Our guide is here.”

“Oh, goody!” Star exclaimed as she spun around with a hop. “Guide away,” she said a playful curtsy.

The teen groaned. “Let’s just get this over with,” he said irritably.

He then began walking through the school’s campus. Star hopped into a skip, hopping around the hoodie-clad teen. Bwah opted to follow from just behind him. Students were milling around or talking to each other. To Bwah, they all looked indistinguishable from the Mewmans. No extra limbs, horns, or anything.

Star skipped in front of the guide and turned to face him. “Thanks for showing us around, safe kid,” she said.

“What!? No,” The teen scoffed. “Whatever you heard about me isn’t true.”

However, before he even said his first word, Star had already gone back to skipping around him. She occasionally ooed in wonder at something new or said an occasional hi to a passing student. She did all this with a big smile on her face.

“I don’t know where people get the idea I’m so safe,” he continued to complain, not even caring that Star wasn’t paying attention. Quick to undermine his argument, he pointed at a loose tile Star was skipping to. “Watch out for that loose tile.”

“It’s ridiculous!” he said on as he closed an open locker in Star’s path. “Careful.”

“You wear a helmet in the shower one time, and you’re labeled for life!” he exclaimed.

This time, Bwah saw a few shards of broken glass in Star’s path. He reached over, grabbed Star by the back of her dress, and hoisted her up just as she jumped up to help her clear the glass.

“Franky, I like taking risks, and would welcome a little danger in my life!” he finished as he pounded his fist into his palm.

Taking what he said to heart, Star raised her wand and blasted a passing butterfly with a gust of blue mist with a smile. With a puff of blue smoke, the butterfly instantly transformed into a large twisted butterfly creature roughly the size of a large dog. Four white fluffy arms were attached to a pink pill-shaped body. Two small legs were attached to the bottom along with a small tail. A pair of bulging green eyes stared their guide. It fluttered aloft with blue wings. Long pink antenna drooped over a large mouth full of large, yellow fangs.

The butterfly monster screeched at the group, a heavy spray of spittle shooting out. The guide jumped back with a yelp. Bwah quickly jumped forward and wrapped his arms around the butterfly’s body and its wings. It wriggled frantically, trying to break his hold, but Bwah proved to be more than a match. Once it realized it couldn’t break loose, it settled for roaring fruitlessly. However, Bwah stopped even that by squeezing its body, crushing the air from its lungs.

“Looks like you took my advice and started reading the book,” Bwah said happily, ignoring the butterfly’s struggles.

Star nodded ecstatically. “Yup! Started skimming through it.”

“I’m happy that you're reading more, but maybe you should take it easy on the magic for a while,” Bwah advised.

Star tapped her chin in thought, while the conversation took place, the safe kid stared, slack-jawed at the ordeal that the other two treated as normal.

“Yeah, you’re right,” Star said as she waved her wand at the creature. Another blast of blue smoke struck the monster, and just as quickly as it transformed into a monster, it transformed back into a regular blue butterfly. It fluttered away from Bwah’s arms like any other butterfly if a bit clumsily.

Finally, the safe kid found his voice. “W-Woah! What the heck was that!?” he managed to sputter out as he backed away from them.

“I mean, you did say you wanted some danger in your life,” Bwah reasoned as he brushed the monster hair from his clothes.

“Yeah, you did just say that,” Star said, twirling her wand as she did so. 

“Who are you two!?” safe kid exclaimed.

Star smiled and twirled before spreading her arms and making an ark. A small rainbow was formed by her wand, and small colorful creatures sprung from the rainbow. These creatures ranged from cute ghostlike creatures to squirrel-like ones.

“I’m a magical princess, from another dimension,” Star said as she held her pose.

Jabbing his thumb at himself, Bwah said, “My name’s Bwah. I’m an actual monster. Since this world doesn’t have any magic, you might have thought this was a costume. Well, it’s not. I’m the real deal, horns and all,” he finished with a razor-sharp smile.

Right as they finished their introductions, the rainbow burst into flame and the creatures it created fled, screaming in high pitched voices.

Safe kid stared at the two with wide eyes and mouth agape. After a second, he clasped his hands together and smiled.

“Well, that brings us to the end of our tour. I’m going home now,” he said happily as he turned and sauntered off.

Star waved bye energetically to the safe kid. “Bye, new friend! Goodbye! See you later!”

All the while, safe kid moved faster and faster before breaking into a full-on sprint. Meanwhile, Bwah was attempting to stamp out the fire in vain. The fire continued to spread around the rainbow, even to his shoe. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once the fire was put out by the local firefighters, Skeeves had sought out Star and Bwah. He explained that they would be staying with a family while they were attending Echo Creek Academy, the Diaz family. He gave them detailed instructions on how to get there. They were even allowed to leave school early to meet the family. Star, as always, was bursting with excitement at the prospect of meeting new people. Bwah was more apprehensive. There was always a chance they wouldn’t fit in well with the family. He was happy to see that the family proved him wrong very quickly.

“And then his tail just popped right off in his hands,” Star said with a laugh.

Mr. Diaz guffawed and his burly shoulders rose up and down. His laugh was so powerful, he almost fell off the couch. The patriarch of the Diaz family was a fairly large man with a head of dark brown hair that reminded him of a particularly cautious kid. He had a strong jaw and a bright smile. His yellow polo shirt had a button undone, partially revealing his hairy chest. Once Mr. Diaz settled down, he wiped a tear from one of his twinkling brown eyes. Despite his size, he managed to look very friendly.

While Ms. Diaz wasn’t a particularly small woman, her husband dwarfed her by comparison. Her long and poofy auburn hair was tied with a red hair tie. Her poofy bangs nearly reached her sparkling green eyes. She wore a sleeved orange blouse and a long grey skirt. Instead of breaking into uncontrollable laughter, she daintily covered her rose lips with a hand as she giggled.

“You must have quite the arm,” Mr. Diaz said with his jovial, hearty voice.

“Yeah, well, I guess you could say that my strength is… inhuman,” Bwah said bashfully as he scratched the back of his head with a light purple blush on his cheeks.

The Diazs laughed again at Bwah’s lame pun and he leaned back on the large green couch all of them were seated at. The Diaz family home was a spacious two-story home. The bottom floor had lots of open space where the kitchen could be seen. All the furniture usually had some kind of carved wooden knick-knack or vase to decorate. If they lacked any of those, then they had small quilts or throw pillows. All in all, they kept a cozy home.

Before anyone could say anything else, the door opened. Everyone looked up to see safe kid walking through the door. The safe kid froze when he saw Bwah and Star.

“Marco!” Mrs. Diaz said as she beckoned for him to come. “Come meet the new foreign exchange students.”

A massive smile spread across Star’s face and she bounced in her seat. 

“They’re going to be living with us,” Mrs. Diaz continued.

“Wha-wha?” was all the newly dubbed Marco could manage.

“What!?” Star squealed excitedly. She jumped up from her seat and rushed over to Marco. Before he could do anything, Star grabbed onto his arm and dragged him over to the rest of the group.

“I just assumed everyone on Earth had the last name Diaz,” Star said, vigorously nodding her head as she spoke.

“Won’t it be nice to have Star’s upbeat energy and Bwah’s air of maturity around the house?” Mrs. Diaz asked with a smile.

Marco rolled his eyes and muttered. “We could have gotten half of that from a litter of puppies.”

Star’s eyes sparked. “I just love puppies!” she exclaimed as she jumped back and pointed her wand at the floor before her.

With a blast of pink light and a chime, a litter of light brown puppies sprang forth. The parents awwed in endearment while Bwah took a cautious step back. Within seconds, his caution paid off as red lasers began to shoot from their eyes accompanied by a zap sound.

Star grimaced as the flashing lasers knocked vases to the ground, shattering them and singing shallow holes in anything else.

As soon as the puppies came to terms with their newfound existence, the began racing through the house as a small herd. Macro clenched his fist and glared at Star while she nervously chewed on the top of her wand.

“Oops,” was all she managed as she scooped up one of the puppies with one hand.

Once Mr. and Mrs. Diaz recovered from the initial shock, they smiled.

“Well, they are really cute,” Mr. Diaz laughed as he picked up one of the puppies as well. Me moved to nuzzle his nose against the puppy’s, but it zapped him on the eyes.

“Aye! My eye!” he yelped, flinching back and squeezing the zapped eye shut.

Again, their smiles only faltered for a moment before they returned full force. In fact, Mr. Diaz seemed to smile even wider as he held the puppy close, allowing it to lick his chin.

“Marco, why don’t you show Star to her room,” Mrs. Diaz suggested.

The hooded teen looked at a pair of wooden chests placed near the door. One had color triangles formed in simple patterns while the other was a plain wooden trunk.

“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of this,” Bwah assured as he hoisted the designed chest onto his shoulder as if it weighed nothing.

“It can’t be that heavy,” Marco retorted as he held out his arms. “Just let me do it.”

Shrugging, Bwah moved the chest over Marco’s extended arms and dropped it. The chest dropped and nearly took Marcko with it. His cheeks puffed as he struggled to hold onto the chest. He leaned back, teetering on his heels.

“Nevermind! Take it! Take it!” Marco stammered as his face began to grow red and sweaty.

“You really need to make up your mind,” Bwah said as he took the chest back and hoisted it on his shoulder again.

When the heavy burden was alleviated, Marco hunched forward and placed his hands on his knees, taking deep gulps of air.

“What’s the hold-up, slowpokes,” Star called from upstairs.

“You heard the princess,” Bwah said as he began to climb the stairs. “Let’s try not to keep her waiting for too long.”

Marco ground before he followed. As they climbed up, the herd of puppies began to scamper around their feet and yap, zapping their legs as they went. Fortunately, the beams didn’t do any damage and proved to only be a minor distraction. After a short walk through another overly decorated hallway, they reunited with Star, practically hopping in place and biting her wand excitedly.

“You know, you probably shouldn't keep biting on your wand like that. You’ll get sick that way,” Bwah advised as he stepped close to her.

Like most times, she waved off his concern. “I keep my wand clean,” she said defensively.

“I hate to interrupt this, but here’s your room, Star. We only have one guest room, so we’ll have to figure something out,” Marco said as he opened one of the hall’s doors and gestured inside.

Quick as a flash, she jumped into the room. Bwah followed right after her. Unlike the rest of the house, this room was quite plain. A bed was against a corner and a cabinet was pushed against a wall. A window let in plenty of light, and that was it.

Bwah set down Star’s chest near the entrance. “Star, you should check to make sure your trunk has everything you need. I’m going downstairs to check my trunk. I’ll be back soon,” he said before leaving the room and heading downstairs.

Right as Bwah hoisted his trunk on his shoulder, the house trembled. Worried by the commotion, Bwah hurriedly went upstairs with his trunk. As he neared the top, he heard a loud thump that sounded like it came from outside. When he reached the top, he saw Star looking out a window with a group of puppies nipping at her dress.

“What was all that,” Bwah asked as he walked behind Star. 

“It’s Marco,” she said sadly. “I think I messed up, by a lot,” she said, still looking out the window.

“How badly?”

“Accidentally destroyed his room and cast a permanent rain cloud on him bad He climbed out the window and left.”

Bwah whistled in astonishment. “I wasn’t even gone for a full minute.”

Star finally turned to him with a big frown. Bwah felt a strong twinge of sadness in his heart himself at seeing Star so downtrodden.

“It’s all my fault,” she said glumly, looking down at her feet.

“Don’t be so hard on yourself, Star,” Bwah said as he walked up to her. “Sure, you might have messed up big time, but you can still fix this, right?”

Star snuffled and began to look a little better. “Maybe you’re. But what do we do know? Marco kinda jumped out the window and left.”

“Then we’ll just have to go find him, won’t we? Come on. If we split up, we’ll find him in no time,” Bwah said reassuringly. 

“Sounds like a plan,” Star said, now returning to her usual chipper attitude.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“So… is this how you usually spend your days or…?” Bwah asked as he approached Marco.

Bwah had spent the rest of the afternoon looking for the teen. Finally, after the sun had set, he had discovered Marco standing outside a convenience store. His clothes were ripped and he was missing a shoe. In one hand, he held a soda cup and the other held an opened candy bar. A dark heavy cloud hung above his head, letting a constant downpour upon him. As Bwah moved to talk to him, Marco pestered everyone who entered and left the store. He seemed to go on about a refill as he hopped around from foot to foot. It was because of this, Bwah was able to walk up to him without alerting him.

When Marco heard Bwah’s voice, he jumped away from him with a yelp. “Oh, you’re Bwah, the monster, right?” Marco asked, calming down a little.

“Just Bwah. I hoped Star would have been the one to find you. I kinda don’t know what to say,” he answered as he began to rock from his toes to his heels.

Marco crossed his arms and scoffed. “I think I’ve had of Star for one day.”

Bwah scratched the back of his head nervously. “Yeah, Star can take a little getting used to.”

“She destroyed my room and stuck me with this,” Marco said, pointing at the cloud above his head. As if on cue, the cloud crackled and the downpour intensified.

‘Again, I really hoped Star could have had a chance to talk to you first. I don’t mean to just brush off what happened to you, but it’s been a rough day for her, too. I mean, she was basically kicked out of her own dimension earlier today and has to get used to a whole new one against her will. She’s had a lot on her mind lately. I totally understand if you’re still angry at her, but please try to see it from her view,” Bwah explained.

Marco’s features softened and he let his hands fall to the ground. “I guess I’m not the only one who’s had a bad day. I can stand to be a little more understanding.”

“That’s good to hear,” Bwah said with a smile. “Now, why don’t we try to find Star, so we could put all this behind us.”

“Lead away.”

Before Bwah could even take a step forward, Marco jumped away from Bwah again and pointed behind.

“Uh, Bwah, please tell me those guys are friends of yours.”

Bwah twisted around to see a band of monsters huddled together. These monsters ranged from an anthropomorphic bear in a red tunic wielding a large double-headed ax to a small two-headed and horned red-skinned monster in blue pants.

At the head of the groups was the runtiest monster of them all. He was a very small bird-like monster covered in dull molting green feathers. His beady black eyes moved from Bwah to Marco. Like Bwah, the normal whites of his eyes were yellow. He wore a blue cloak with a large feathered mantle pinned with a pair of small ornamental skulls. A skull that looked like it once belonged to a horned alligator sat on his head. In his right hand, he held a comically long staff with a winged green monster eye adorning the top. Bwah had a strong inkling of who these monsters were and what they wanted.

The unifying trait these monsters had was that they were all leering at the group. The bird monster stepped forward and pointed his staff at the pair.

“Star Butterfly! Show yourself!” he called in a wavering pompous voice.

“It’s Ludo, right?” Bwah asked and he crossed his arms.

The monster puffed his chest and looked proud of himself. “The one and only! I see word of my magnificence has spread already.”

“Eh, not really,” Bwah continued. “Star mentioned you a few times before. Aside from her, I haven’t heard anyone mention you before. I’m Bwah, a friend of Star’s”

As soon as the name Star left Bwah’s lips, Ludo snapped back into his scowl. “You,” snapped Ludo, pointing at Bwah. “You’re Star Butterfly’s sole protector. Tell us where Star is, and we might just spare you.”

Bwah leaned back and began to whisper to Marco Ludo was making his demands. “Be careful. Long story short, that little bird monster wants Star’s wand to rule the universe or something. This might get dangerous, so I’ll distract them. Don’t want you getting hurt, safe kid. Run when I say go.”

With that said, Bwah stepped forward and cupped his hands around his lips. “Hey, you feathery runt! You want to know where Star is, right?”

Ludo’s eyes narrowed at Bwah. “You have the nerve to insult me!” Ludo spat furiously, shouting when he said to me.

“Yeah, you heard me. You. Runty. Molty. Bird. If you want to know where Star is, you’ll have to fight me for it. Unless you don’t have the guts to do it,” Bwah taunted, raising his fists in a defensive stance.

Growling, Ludo pointed his staff at Bwah. “Destroy him!” he commanded.

“Go,” Bwah said as he braced himself for the fight.

The mob of monsters let out a collective roar and charged at Bwah. The monster at the head of the charge was some sort of large red lizard with three eyes. He raised his burly arms over Bwah, ready to smash him. As Bwah raised his arms to block, Marco rushed past and slammed his fist into the monster’s exposed stomach with practiced ease. The lizard monster doubled over, clutching his stomach. Marco followed up by jumping high in the air and slammed his foot atop its head, knocking the monster to the ground, effectively taking him out of the fight.

Bwah watched the fight if you could even call it that, in surprise. Marco had taken down the hulking monster in the span of a few seconds. Shaking his head, Bwah focused again.

“I thought I told you to run. I have this under control,” Bwah said

“And miss out on a fight with real monsters? Not a chance!” Marco replied before ducking under the lunge of the two-headed monster. He quickly spun around, kicking both of his heads in a single move.

The sound of a massive monster charging brought Bwah’s attention elsewhere. The monster charging him was a wall of muscle. His skin was greenish-blue. A thick beard covered his chin and antlers poked out of his head. In his hands, he wielded a large wooden mallet. He raised the mallet over his head and swung it down with all his might.

Without a sign of fear, Bwah held out a hand, palm facing outward. The monster smashed his mallet against his open hand, but Bwah didn’t budge an inch. The monster looked down at the much smaller Bwah with surprise.

Grinning, Bwah reached with his other hand and grabbed onto the handle and pulled him forward. He stumbled forward and Bwah smashed his other fist into his face. The monster was knocked clean on his back and didn’t try to get back up.

Not giving Bwah a chance, the rest of the monster began to close in. Despite the odds being stacked against him, he was sure he would make it through this alright, even if it would cost him a few scrapes and bruises. As he began to step back, he felt something bump against him. He turned to see Marco backing up from the monster that circled him.

“Are you still excited about fighting these guys? ‘Cause I wouldn’t mind if you just took on the rest of them for me,” Bwah said, a light sarcastic tone creeping into his voice.

“No, but I am starting to regret not running when you said go,” Marco answered as the monsters closed in.

“So, it seems that you were all talk, after all,” Luda sais as he pushed his way to the front of the crowd.

“Why don’t you call off the others and say that again,” Bwah shot back.

“Oh, that won’t be necessary. I already have you right where I want you,” Ludo replied as his beak twisted into a smile. He pointed at the pair and commanded, “Attack!”

Bwah braised himself for the oncoming attack. Before they reached him, he heard a familiar voice shouting from a distance.

“Mega Narwhal Blast!” Star’s voice shouted from behind the crowd.

Golden light showered over the monsters. Seconds later, the light was accompanied by giant blue narwhals with stars on their forehead. Their large blubbery bodies slammed into the monsters with tremendous force. The crowd didn’t stand a chance as they were knocked to the ground.

Once the narwhals had stopped flying through the air, the only monster that wasn’t on the ground groaning in pain was Ludo himself. He looked around the monster with disgust. The unicorns of the sea flopped around for a few seconds before dissipating into pink light, leaving only the damages as the only trace.

“Come on! We were so close! Couldn’t you have just held it together for just a little longer!?” Ludo shouted as he kicked a nearby monster while he was down.

“I could cast another spell if you’re not ready to give up, Ludo,” Star taunted as she walked up behind him, wand still poised for another spell.

Ludo turned and shot Star an enraged glare, but turned away and retrieved a pair of scissors from his robes. His scissors were jagged with white handles and black blades. He grumbled as he walked past his defeated monsters before jumping up and stabbing the scissors in the air.

The scissors stuck in thin air, and as he dragged them downward, a jagged white tear followed the scissors. Once his feet hit the floor, the tear split open to reveal a spiraling black and grey portal. An airy twinkling sound emanated from the portal.

“Come on, you worthless morons,” Ludo said as he waved for the monster to follow. “Get into the portal.”

The monster formed a single file line into the portal, groaning and nursing their wounds as they went. The twinkling sound intensified when one of them stepped through. Soon, only Ludo was left and he stepped through as well.

Before the portal disappeared, he stuck his head out. “This isn’t the last you’ll hear of me, Star Butterfly,” Ludo threatened, shaking his fist at the group. He finally retreated back. The portal closed in on itself just as he left.

Bwah and Marco quickly moved to meet up with Star, smiles spread across both their faces.

“Was that an original spell? That’s a great step forward,” Bwah said excitedly.

“Yeah, Star, that was amazing!” Marco agreed. “Did you get to see us? Because that was the best fight of my life.”

“What can I say?’ Star boasted and she crossed her arms and basked in the praise. “That was pretty amazing, wasn’t it? I think I got this whole magic thing all worked out.”

Before the others could say a word, her wand blasted out one more narwhal. It sailed up high into the air before slamming onto the roof of a nearby car. The sound of crunching metal was deafening in the silent night as the roof was crushed into the body. It flopped around on the car for a few more seconds, destroying it even further. 

“Methinks you still have a way to go,” Bwah said as he observed the wreck.

Star gnawed on her wand nervously as she looked on as well.

Finally satisfied with the destruction, it disappeared as well.

“So… who thinks we should leave before the owner of whatever that is returns,” Bwah said as he stepped back.

“Before that, I have an apology to make,” Star said as she turned to Marco. She waved her wand at the cloud and blasted it away. Her head hung low to avoid his eyes.

“I’m really sorry about all the trouble I cause. I’ll totally understand if you don’t want anything to do with me,” Star said glumly.

Bwah glanced at Marco and elbowed him lightly between the ribs.

Rubbing the spot he was poked in, Marco coughed and said, “Bwah told me what you’re going through. I just want to say I understand now. You must have had a really tough time adjusting to a new dimension. I forgive you, and I don’t want you to go.”

Star looked up with a grin spread from ear to ear. “Oh, thank you! Hugs!” she cheered as she charged forward and wrapped an arm around Bwah and Marco each.

“It’s nice to see everything work out,” Bwah said with a smile.

“My Car!”

“Run?” Bwah asked.

“Run,” Star agreed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bwah flopped onto a large bed with a sigh. Their first day had been more eventful than he hoped, but there was a bright side. Star had started to get a handle of her magic. 

When Bwah returned, he found that Star had conjured up a massive curved tower that reminded him of Mewni. A smaller tower jutted out from the bigger one’s base. His room was spacious and several floors tall. There wasn’t much in his room. His trunk was shoved against the canopy bed he laid in. In all honesty, the tower had more space than he needed. He was sure if her mother saw Star, she would be proud. 

Speaking of which. Bwah sat up on the bed’s edge and retrieved the magic mirror from his pocket. He flipped open the mirror and was greeted by his own reflection. He stared into his own reflected eyes and frowned. Was he really going to do this? Moon had promised to not sent Star to Saint Olga’s from what he reported, but it still felt like he was betraying Star. Taking a deep breath, he decided to just bite the bullet and get over it.

“Call Queen Moon,” Bwah said to his reflection.

Instaninsouly, the reflection began to ripple like a pond after a stone dropped into it. The colors shifted and distorted until they formed Queen Moon’s face.

“Bwah, it’s good to hear from you,” Moon said with a nod. “How was your first day with Star?”

“To be honest, today’s been a long one, Mrs. Moon. Not because of Star,” Bwah added quickly.

Moon raised an eyebrow inquisitively. “How so?”

“Well… Ludo somehow found out we came to earth and we got into a fight with him. Before you worry, let me just say we fought him off without a problem. The son of the family we’re staying at helped, too. His name is Marco Diaz.”

“That’s good to hear,” Moon replied. “Is there anything else I should know?”

“Yeah. I like to think Star’s off to a good start with her magic. She’s managed some kind of house expansion spell, a monster transformation spell, and she even managed to create her own spell.”

Moon nodded and the corner of her lips tugged upwards in the beginning of a proud smile. “That’s good to hear. You’ve done wonderfully.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Moon. I’ll call you when something else worth telling you about happens. Goodbye.”

“Goodbye, Bwah. Remember to keep a close eye on Star,” she said as her reflection began to ripple. 

Before he knew it, Bwah was staring at his own reflection. He snapped the mirror shut and placed it inside his pillowcase before lying down.

“Hopefully, things will settle down, and the rest of our stay can go smoothly,” Bwah said to himself.

He felt his eyelids grow heavier and heavier. He covered himself with the bed’s blanket and dozed off.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Omake

As the carriage passed through the portal, Bwah shifted in his seat and an unconformable look passed through his features.

"What's the matter?" Star asked.

"I don't know. It just feels like I've done this before. Like several times... It's getting kinda unoriginal, to be honest."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know how I said I wouldn't add another chapter until the quarter finished? Well, I lied. I finished one of my papers, so I wanted to celebrate by witing even more stuff that doesn't' have anything to do with school. 
> 
> To be honest, I'm wondering how to handle some of the episodes. In the beginning of the show, it's more like a slice of life kind of show with some breadcrumbs sprinkled here and there. I don't want to skip massive chunks of the beginning entirely. Take the next episode for example. Most of the episode is just them hopping from dimension to dimension partying and Olga's machines slowly, but steadily closing in on them. I'm thinking I'll have to do maybe two episodes per chapter, depending on what the episodes are. I also don't want to shove Bwah into every episode because there are episodes where everyone does there own thing, and not everyone is included. I'll probably have Bwah do his own adventures where the others are doing their own thing. I want to try out one more chapter for this fic, then one for the Soul Eater one, and back to the main story.


End file.
